The Duke of Sussex is due to fly back to London at the end of February – and he will once again travel alone, with Meghan Markle and their children set to remain in California

Prince Harry is set to travel to the UK on his own next month, with his family – wife Meghan Markle and their two children – remaining at their home in the US.

Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, have not visited Harry’s home country since 2022, when the Sussexes returned to celebrate the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It’s thought to be the only time King Charles has met his youngest granddaughter.

And that doesn’t look set to change anytime soon, with a friend of Harry’s revealing that he still fears for his family’s safety in the UK. The insider told HELLO!: “Safe visits would enable his children to know his home country and enable him to better support his charities.”

When Prince Harry stepped back from being a working royal and moved to the US, he was no longer automatically provided with the same level of police protection given to the Royal Family, and instead has his security decided on a case-by-case basis, in the same way as other high-profile visitors to the UK.

The dispute has contributed to the already strained relationship between the Duke and his family. According to Harry’s friends, his calls to his father regarding the security issue have gone “unanswered”, but sources close to the King have said that it would be “wholly inappropriate” for him to intervene.

In 2023, Harry’s lawyers read out an excerpt from a written witness statement regarding his relocation to the US. It read in part: “The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US.

“That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”

Harry is due to return to London to give evidence in the High Court in his case against News Group Newspapers at the end of February.