According to Prince Harry’s friends the Duke of Sussex is ‘desperate’ for his father to visit America and reconnect with his two young childrenGeorgia Burns Trainee Trends, Showbiz and Lifestyle Writer and Jennifer Newton
13:00, 05 Jan 2026
Prince Harry makes ‘desperate’ plea to King Charles(Image: Getty Images)
Friends of Prince Harry claim he is eager for King Charles to travel to America this year to see his grandchildren. The King last saw Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet when they visited the UK for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022, meaning he has only met six-year-old Archie a few times and four-year-old Lilibet just once.
Since then, Harry has been battling with the Home Office to restore automatic armed police protection for his family during visits to the UK. He has not brought his children to the UK since and King Charles has not travelled to the US either. However, following news before Christmas that the King’s cancer treatment will be reduced in the New Year, Harry has reportedly expressed a wish for his father to visit them in California.
Father and son were last together in September, when Harry visited Clarence House for tea during a UK trip, but they haven’t met in person since. A source revealed to The Sun: “Harry has made it clear that he would love his dad to come and visit him and the family. He knows that they are strained, but he has mentioned several times a hope that his father can have a relationship with his grandchildren.”
Prince Harry and Meghan with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet(Image: Instagram)
It comes following reports that Harry is ‘confident’ his taxpayer-funded police protection during his UK visits could be reinstated. The Duke of Sussex previously lost an appeal last year, in May, challenging the High Court’s dismissal of his claim against the Home Office, which ruled he should receive a different level of taxpayer-funded security while in the country.
The legal dispute came after Harry and the Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals and relocated first to Canada, then to California, the Mirror reports.
It has now emerged that Harry’s security arrangements are under review after he wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood shortly after her appointment and formally requested a risk assessment from the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), which is overseen by the Home Office.
According to The Telegraph, sources say the mood is ‘positive’ and that the Sussex camp is ‘cautiously optimistic’ that his automatic security would be reinstated.
However, royal author Duncan Larcombe believes that if the new threat assessment goes Harry’s way, Meghan may face some very uncomfortable decisions.
He stated: “The security issue has essentially been used as an excuse for Meghan not to come to the UK in the last few years. But many people think the real reason is to do with the public reaction that she’d receive over here.”
Larcombe continued: “If the protection is put back in place for Harry and Meghan when they’re on UK soil, then there’s really no excuse for her to stay away, so she has to be considering doing a U-turn – she has no choice but to think about it given the new review.”
Harry and Meghan have not travelled to the UK together since 2022 (Image: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Harry has made it clear that the absence of official security – which normally includes round-the-clock protection from top professional Met Police officers and access to top-level intelligence – is the main obstacle preventing him and Meghan from even a short visit to the UK.
After losing his court case last year, he said a return to the UK for his family of four would be “impossible” adding, “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”
While Meghan, 44, has spoken far less about the security concerns than her husband, she has largely avoided the UK since her last major trip here in 2022.