Harry, at least, to attend Philip’s funeral
Pregnant Meghan may skip contentious trip to UK
Prince Harry reportedly is preparing to return to the U.K. to be with Queen Elizabeth and the royal family after the death of Prince Philip, as Buckingham Palace announced that his grandfather’s funeral next Saturday will be a scaledback service due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But it’s not known whether COVID travel restrictions will affect Harry’s return from the United States, whether his pregnant wife Meghan Markle will accompany him and what kind of reception the couple would receive in the U.K. — a month after they accused the royal family of being racist and cruel during their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“Harry will absolutely do his utmost to get back to the U.K. and be with his family,” a source close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the Daily Mail. “He will want nothing more than to be there for his family, and particularly his grandmother, during this awful time.”
People magazine also reported that Harry is likely to return to the U.K for the first time since he and Meghan stepped away from royal duties and moved to California.
As for Meghan, she is pregnant with the couple’s second child and is due to give birth some time in the summer.
“Meghan is obviously pregnant so she will need to take advice from her doctors about whether it is safe for her to travel, but I think Harry will definitely go,” the source said. Royal commentators have said her pregnancy makes it less likely that she will make the trip with her husband, the Guardian reported.
A few hours after news came that the 99-year-old Philip had died Friday morning at Windsor Castle, Harry and Meghan posted a tribute on their Archewell Foundation website.
“In loving memory of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh,” the tribute read. “Thank you for your service … You will be greatly missed.
Philip, the beloved husband and consort of the queen, recently spent a month in the hospital where he was treated for an unspecified infection and underwent surgery for a preexisting heart condition. His death was not related to the coronavirus, and he had been vaccinated.
But his death came in the year that COVID-19 caused turmoil and heartbreak in the U.K. More than 150,000 Britons have lost their lives to the pandemic, and many families have been unable to hold typical funerals for their loved ones, the New York Times said.
Buckingham Palace announced Friday that Philip’s funeral would take place at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, but it won’t be a state funeral and there won’t be a lying-in-state, as Philip himself requested.
The modifications also were made in accordance with the “prevailing circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic,” a statement read, which added that members of the public are asked to not participate in any of the events surrounding the funeral.
The pandemic also means that anyone traveling to the U.K. must quarantine for up to 10 days, so it’s unknown whether these restrictions would affect any plans by Harry and Meghan to attend the funeral. But the Guardian reported that this selfisolation period can be reduced to five days if the traveller pays for a private COVID test at least five days after arrival. If the private test is negative, traveller can stop self-isolating as soon as they get the result.
Philip’s death also comes as the royal family has been in turmoil over the past two years, first over Prince Andrew stepping back from royal duties due to his scandalous association with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and, more recently, following Harry and Meghan’s explosive interview with Winfrey.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are living in self-imposed exile near Los Angeles, made a number of stunning allegations against the royal family in their March 7 CBS interview, particularly that an unnamed member of the royal family said racist things about Meghan, who is biracial. She suggested that their son Archie wasn’t given the title of prince because someone in the family had concerns about the color of his skin.
The couple also alleged that the family was indifferent to Meghan’s mental health struggles and that Prince Charles cut them off financially after they announced they were stepping away from royal duties.
Harry would not reveal the name of the so-called “royal racist” during the interview, but Winfrey said the next day that the duke had assured her, off camera, that the person was neither the queen nor Prince Philip. Harry also indicated to Winfrey that he had a good relationship with his grandparents, particularly the queen.
Prince Harry has been said to have been very close with his grandfather, with the two often seen smiling and joking around while on royal outings together, People magazine reported. Philip also played a crucial role in Harry’s and William’s lives after the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.