Their relationship with the royal family has been fractured since they left for America, with a spate of interviews and bombshell claims creating increasing hostility between them.
However, reports last week claimed that Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle were gearing up to return to the UK, and had even requested a meeting with the Queen.
And as it had been previously reported that the couple had wanted their three-month-old daughter Lilibet to be christened at Windsor, fans speculated on social media as to whether the couple were plotting a christening during the rumoured visit.
While Harry, who turns 37 this week, has been back twice this year, the potential UK trip would be the first for Meghan, 40, since she left in March 2020 to set up home in LA, where she, Harry, son Archie, two, and Lilibet now live.
The pair’s popularity has plummeted since their departure, with polls earlier this month revealing it was at its lowest ever – and a clip from their Oprah interview being booed when it was played at last week’s National Television Awards.
The visit would see Meghan come face-to-face with the royals for the first time since she scandalously accused a royal of racism in her infamous interview with Oprah in March this year, as well as insisting that her cries for help about her mental health went unanswered by The Firm.
Harry has also criticised his family in a podcast with Dax Shepard, where he blasted his father’s parenting, saying that Prince Charles had made him “suffer” like he had growing up. In the documentary The Me You Can’t See, Harry said there were “efforts from The Firm and the media to smear” Meghan.
The recent re-release of the couple’s biography Finding Freedom has added fuel to the fire, and fans were left open-mouthed last month when it emerged that Harry will release a tell-all memoir next year, with no doubt even more secrets about life behind Palace walls.
While it’s unclear when Meghan and Harry will return – with the Queen due to stay at her beloved Balmoral Castle in Scotland until October – Paul Burrell, who worked for both the Queen and Princess Diana as a butler for a decade, tells Closer that a meeting is inevitable, either later this year or at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations next summer.
And he believes the Queen would welcome them back – but warns they could struggle to win over Prince Charles.
Check out: 9 times Meghan Markle dressed like Princess Diana
All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana - slider
1 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
The glittering Roland Mouret gown worn by Meghan at the premiere of Cirque du Soleil's Totem show was reminiscent of a Catherine Walker dress Princess Diana wore in 1990.
2 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Both Meghan and Diana chose a monochrome color palette for visits to Royal Ascot.
3 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
It seems both royals are a fan of pairing red and purple. Princess Diana wore the combo a visit to Hong Kong in November 1989 while Meghan wore it on a visit to Birkenhead in January of 2019.
4 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
In 1987 Princess Diana wore tartan at Bute Highland Games in Scotland and two decades later Meghan wore a Burberry tartan coat for an official visit to Scotland during her engagement.
5 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Meghan sheer pleated Givenchy skirt (which caused quite the controversy) and matching top may well have been inspired by Princess Diana's all-blue look from 1982.
6 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Both royal women are a fan of pinstripes, as seen by this pinstriped blazer worn by Diana in Sheffield and the buttoned Altuzarra dress Meghan wore at the Commonwealth Youth Forum.
7 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Even at the end of her royal duties, Meghan channelled Diana in her wardrobe. Just look at this green dress and matching hat worn by Meghan on Commonwealth Day compared to Diana's Trooping of the Colour dress and hat from 1982.
8 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
At the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, one of the very first times we saw Meghan and Harry in public together, Meghan and her cali-girl vibes looked very similar to an outfit Princess Diana wore while in Bosnia.
9 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Not ones to shy away from colour, Princess Diana and Meghan also both know just how amazing a simple white dress can look.
10 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Both have sported tailored blush pink dresses. Princess Diana wore a Versace coat dress in 1995 while The Duchess of Sussex wore a modern take on the trend when visiting the Nelson Mandela Centenary Exhibition at Southbank Centre in London.
11 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Meghan's second wedding dress (a Stella McCartney design) was noticeably similar to a high-necked evening gown worn by Princess Diana at a reception at Spencer House in London.
12 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
Meghan wore a stunning Safiyaa caped red gown o the Mountbatten Festival of Music at Royal Albert Hall that looked very similar to the red Jacques Azagury dress Diana wore to an American Red Cross dinner in 1997.
13 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
The chic plaid suit that Diana wore while at Paddington Station in London in 1988 looks very similar to an off-the-shoulder structured shirt Meghan wore on a visit to Wales.
14 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
The off-the-shoulder pink Carolina Herrera dress Meghan wore to Trooping the Colour was rather similar to Princess Diana's look worn at the Royal Ballet in Germany in 1987.
15 of 15All The Times Meghan Markle Dressed Like Princess Diana
At Commonwealth Day in March 2019 Meghan wore an emerald green Erden coat not dissimilar to the one worn by Princess Diana in 1982.
He says, “The day Harry and Meghan return to the UK will be extremely tense. There’ll be an icy reception from Palace aides, staff and certain members of the family. I don’t think Harry and Meghan are aware of just how much hurt they’ve caused.
“The Queen will feel torn between her role as a grandmother and her role as Queen. While she is no doubt upset over what Harry and Meghan have said and done, family is everything. She’ll want to talk to Harry and she’d forgive him, should he ask for her forgiveness. They’ll probably bring Archie and Lilibet – and I know she’ll be desperate to see Archie again and to meet Lilibet.
“It’s Prince Charles who has really been in the firing line from Harry. Harry has criticised him as a father, in terms of his parenting, and he’s attacked Charles’ character, which could affect his reputation with the public. Charles was reportedly livid, and I think he’ll be the most reluctant to welcome back Harry and Meghan with open arms. I think there’ll be pressure on the Queen from Prince Charles’ household to be stern and not forgiving.
“But I believe Prince William and Kate will play mediators between the Queen and Prince Charles. William and Kate will be thinking both logistically and emotionally about how to go about things should Harry and Meghan come back the UK. I think they will be the ones who decide if Harry and Meghan are accepted back into the fold – their fate lies in William and Kate’s hands.”
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The growing divide between Harry and his brother William is said to have started when William warned him against rushing things with Meghan in 2016. In 2019, Harry claimed he and William were “on different paths”. But sources have claimed William has been saddened by the rift. There was a glimmer of hope in April when Kate was seen to bring Harry and William together to talk after Prince Philip’s funeral.
Paul says, “William and Kate are in the middle – they’ll want to call a truce and make peace with Harry and Meghan, but they also know there’s a danger in forgiving them.
“William has an alignment to the throne, but also to his brother. I suspect he’s thinking very carefully about when they come face to face again.”