In a show of solidarity, the Royal Family presented a united front following the unexpected announcement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return to the UK. The Princess of Wales was spotted with a radiant smile as she made her way to a Sunday church service near Balmoral.
Among those attending the intimate gathering at the quaint Crathie Kirk were Prince William and Princess Catherine. Their presence followed a significant family meeting held in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, indicating the importance of their gathering.
Accompanying them was their eldest child, Prince George. The service also saw King Charles and Queen Camilla in attendance, alongside Princess Anne with her husband Timothy Laurence, and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, all highlighting a closely-knit royal presence.
News surfaced last Wednesday that after six years stateside, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are relocating back to the UK, preparing their children for new educational experiences. This marks a significant shift as their family adapts to life across the Atlantic once again.
King Charles made his way to the Royal Family’s Scottish summer residence last Tuesday, followed closely by appearances from the Prince and Princess of Wales at the estate. The Princess Royal and her brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, have also been seen, illustrating the family’s commitment to this reunion.
William and Kate have not reacted publicly to the news of Harry and Meghan’s return, with the future king estranged from his younger brother following the barrage of accusations Harry levelled against him, Kate and Charles and Camilla when he stepped back from royal duties.
It has been reported the Royal Family were holding a ‘summit’ over the return of the Sussexes, although officials have stressed the gathering was in keeping with a longstanding annual tradition of extended family members staying at Balmoral during the summer.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, with son Prince George, are seen arriving to attend a Sunday church service at Crathie Kirk near the royal Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
King Charles and Queen Camilla were also driven to the event on Sunday morning
Other attendees included Princess Anne and her husband Timothy Laurence, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward
The Prince and Princess of Wales are on a summer holiday at the Aberdeenshire estate their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
They have joined Charles and Camilla and a series of other royals for the annual trip to the Highlands, following the monarch’s arrival last Tuesday for his summer break.
Zara and Mike Tindall have also been spotted there, along with Peter Phillips and his new wife Harriet Sperling.
The news of Harry and Meghan’s UK comeback emerged last Wednesday evening, after the Balmoral gathering had begun.
Harry and Meghan’s children Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, have already enrolled at British schools and will start classes in September, according to a source close to the Sussexes.
The Sussexes are thought likely to live at a private, non-royal residence outside London – with suggestions they could be moving to the Cotswolds.
Since leaving for the US they have been living in Montecito, California, while also owning a holiday home in Portugal.
King Charles was described as being taken aback when only learning of their comeback plans last Sunday – having not been told when the Sussexes met him on their visit to Britain last month.
ALSO READ: Man Faces Charges for Allegedly Burning Child with Lighter
The Princess of Wales was seen smiling, with her son Prince George in the back of their car
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in the UK, it has been revealed – the couple are pictured here at the Endeavour Fund Awards in London in March 2020
Sources said that the terms of the Megxit deal under which the Sussexes are not ‘working royals’ will be unchanged.
The Sussexes’ status will remain the same, with the couple not being offered a ‘half in, half out’ option when it comes to their roles.
Harry and ex-Suits star Meghan, who wed at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in May 2018, were once dubbed part of the ‘Fab Four’ with the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – now the Prince and Princess of Wales.
But in March 2019, Buckingham Palace announced Harry and Meghan would set up their own household, breaking from the joint operation they had with William and Kate, amid reports of rifts between the two couples.
In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess announced they intended to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family, become financially independent, still support Elizabeth II, but split their time between the UK and North America.
By March that year they had set up a permanent home in California, officially stepped down as senior royals and stopped using their HRH styles.
The fallout worsened after accusations Harry publicly levelled at members of the Royal Family including his brother in his memoir Spare and his Netflix documentary.
In his autobiography, released just months after Queen Elizabeth II died, Harry accused William of physically attacking him and pushing him into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan.
He also alleged it was William and Kate who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005 and ‘howled’ with laughter when they saw it.
Harry and Meghan, in their Netflix series two months after the Queen’s death, claimed Kensington Palace lied to protect William when it issued a statement denying a story he had bullied Harry out of the Royal Family.
Harry also wrote of how Charles pleaded with his two sons during a tense meeting at Windsor just after the funeral of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, saying: ‘Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.’
Meghan was able to travel to the UK in July with Archie and Lilibet to join Harry when he came to the end of a week-long series of events promoting next year’s Invictus Games.
During the visit, the Duke and Duchess took their children to see the King for the first time in four years at his Highgrove home, but are not thought to have raised the prospect of a return to the UK at that meeting.
The Invictus Games take place from July 10 to 17 next year, with Birmingham expected to welcome about 550 wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, and their families, from 25 nations.
Charles is said to be happy to be able to spend more time with the Sussex family, but remains adamant they will not be working royals.
Harry and Meghan have not commented on their reasons for relocating to the UK.