Friends claim Harry wants Charles to visit America to see his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, as the Duke of Sussex also battles to get his police protection reinstated.Jennifer Newton Deputy Royal Editor, Paige Ingram and Ambarish Awale Trainee Trends, Showbiz and Lifestyle Writer
21:57, 05 Jan 2026Updated 22:01, 05 Jan 2026
Prince Harry wants King Charles to visit the US this year to see Archie and Lilibet.(Image: INSTAGRAM/@MEGHAN)
Friends of Prince Harry have revealed that he is keen for King Charles to visit America this year to see his grandchildren. The King last saw Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in 2022 during their UK visit for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
This means he has only seen six year old Archie a few times and four year old Lilibet just once. Since then, Harry has been in a dispute with the Home Office over reinstating automatic armed police protection for him and his family when they visit the UK.
He has not brought his children to the UK since – with Charles also not travelling to the US. 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 California.
Harry has avoided bringing his family to the UK due to a dispute over armed police protection.(Image: Kevin Mazur, Getty Images for W+P)
The father and son last met in person in September when Harry visited Clarence House for tea while on a trip to the UK – but it appears there have been no meet-ups since, reports the Mirror. A source told 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.”
The Mirror has reached out to Harry’s office for comment. This follows reports suggesting Harry is ‘confident’ his taxpayer-funded police protection could be reinstated during UK visits.
The Duke of Sussex had his appeal rejected in May after challenging the High Court’s dismissal of his claim against the Home Office regarding the level of publicly-funded security he receives in Britain. The legal battle began after Harry and the Duchess of Sussex relocated to Canada, then California, following their decision to step down as senior working royals.
Harry and his father last met in September during a UK visit, with no meetings since.(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Now his security arrangements are under fresh review after Harry contacted Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood soon after her appointment and lodged a formal request for a risk assessment with the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), which operates under Home Office supervision.
The Telegraph reports that sources describe the atmosphere as ‘positive’, with the Sussex team feeling ‘cautiously optimistic’ about having automatic security restored. However, Royal author Duncan Larcombe believes that should the new threat assessment favour Harry, Meghan may face some difficult choices.
He said: “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.”
He 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 has made it abundantly clear that the absence of official security – which typically includes round-the-clock armed protection from elite Met Police officers and access to top-level intelligence – is the primary obstacle preventing him and Meghan from making even a brief visit to his homeland.
Following the loss of his court case last year, he described a UK return for the family of four as “impossible”, stating, “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”
Whilst Meghan, 44, has been considerably less outspoken about the security matter than her husband, she has kept a notable distance from the UK since her last major trip here in 2022.