Prince Harry is set to avoid an “awkward reunion” with Prince William as the Duke of Sussex is facing a UK “predicament”, according to GB News’s Royal Correspondent.
Cameron Walker and Svar Nanan-Sen, the Royal Editor of GBNews.com, referred to Prince Harry’s UK return as “unlikely” in this week’s episode of The Royal Record podcast.
Harry’s uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, passed away on July 29, and his funeral is set to take place in the coming weeks.
However, the duke, 39, is not expected to attend due to security concerns.
Prince Harry to avoid ‘awkward reunion’ with Prince William as Duke of Sussex facing UK ‘predicament’
Getty
In the podcast, Svar said: “I understand that Prince Harry is set to miss Lord Fellowes’ funeral because of many challenges around a trip to the UK.
“Some of them he’s openly discussed his fears with returning to the UK because of security issues.
“We know he doesn’t have the level of security that he feels comfortable with.
“Then another challenge is the fact it could set up an awkward reunion with Prince William, who is likely to attend the event.
Cameron Walker and Svar Nanan-Sen discussed Harry’s potentially ‘awkward reunion’ with William
GB News
“We saw Harry take a similar stance with the Duke of Westminster’s wedding in June, where Prince William was an usher.
“Despite being quite close to the Duke of Westminster, Harry didn’t attend that event. So there’s a lot to unpack on all the challenges that Harry is facing now in attending these family events in the UK.”
Cameron added: “Yes. I think it’s odd in a sense, because this is the second family member, or at least close person who Harry is close with, that he’s missed quite an important event.
“With the Duke of Westminster’s case, I understand that Prince Harry had a phone call with the Duke of Westminster beforehand, and they mutually agreed for the benefit of everybody it was probably not great that he attended because then the spotlight would be on him and William’s rift.
Prince William and Prince Harry at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
PA
“This time, as you say, we understand one of the key reasons for not attending Lord Fellowes’ funeral is security.
“Lord Fellowes is Lady Jane Fellowes’ husband, who is Princess Diana’s older sister.
“He was also the former private secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, and we know Harry, in particular, is very close to the Spencer side of the family.
“We saw Lady Jane and her brother Earl Spencer supporting Prince Harry at the Invictus Games 10th anniversary at St Paul’s Cathedral.
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Lady Jane Fellowes, Lord Robert Fellowes and Alexander Fellowes attending the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan MarkleGetty
“We also know that Prince Harry has to give the Home Office 28 days’ notice before he returns to the UK in order to get any police protection, because I think a lot of people forget that he does get some police protection when he comes to the UK, but it’s not automatic protection and he has to give a lot of notice.”
The Duke of Sussex originally took legal action against the Home Office in 2020 after stepping down as a working royal, as his automatic police protection was removed.
Cameron continued: “For a situation like a funeral of a close relative, that’s quite difficult because you obviously don’t know when somebody is going to die.
“Usually, a funeral takes place far less than 28 days after the death. So he’s in a little bit of a predicament there. What’s he going to do for future funerals, which he may sadly have to attend?”