The Duke of Sussex landed in Angola on Tuesday evening and is set to walk across a landmine field in the African state just as his mother Princess Diana did 28 years ago for the Halo Trust

Prince Harry is thought to have ‘banned’ his wife from visiting the UK

Prince Harry has “banned” his wife, Meghan Markle, from joining him on his recent trip to the African state of Angola due to safety concerns, with insiders likening it to him not letting her visit the UK.

Meghan Markle has not returned to Britain since the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, where she was pictured during an awkward walkabout with Prince William, Prince Harry and Princess Kate outside Windsor Castle. The once dubbed “Fab Four” haven’t been pictured together since then.

Now, an insider claims Harry refuses to let Meghan return to the UK along with join him on his latest trip. “The duke won’t let his wife go to England over security concerns, so there was no chance he’d allow her to go to Angola to walk across landmines,” a source told the Daily Mail.

Prince Harry landed in Angola on Tuesday evening(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The Duke landed at Luanda airport yesterday evening as he shook hands with President Joao Lourenco for his visit. The area on the southwest coast of Africa has been damaged by a 27-year civil war until 2002.

There are still estimated to be 1,000 minefields that need to be cleared. Since the end of the war, the Halo Trust has cleared more than 123,000 landmines, with Harry being a patron for the organisation.

Harry is said to have barred his wife from visiting alongside him due to safety concerns, with insiders likening it to his ban on her visiting the UK since their taxpayer-funded security was cut when they moved to the US.

It comes just days after a secret meeting between the aides of King Charles and Harry that took place in London just months before his next visit to the UK. Harry is said to have given his father advance notice of his September visit, but sources claim Charles could “pull out” of a reunion at the last minute. The Duke has a series of British-based charity engagements that he is taking part in.

Harry is following in his mother’s footsteps as he visits Angola (Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

It’s unclear if this was related to the meeting that took place between the King’s most senior communications official, Tobyn Andreae, and Harry and Meghan’s newly appointed head of communications Meredith Maines. It was her first visit to the UK in her role.

Harry had been in a battle with the government to regain taxpayer-funded police protection while visiting, insisting it put his family in harm’s way. But in May, he lost the legal challenge, meaning his security will remain outside the automatic, high level of protection which is provided for senior royals.

The court did not think there was a sufficient reason to reconsider the decision that had lowered his security. His lawyers had argued that he had been “singled out” for “inferior treatment”, but the court ruling upheld that there had been nothing unlawful about how the decision had been reached.

Meghan has not been back to the UK since her 2022 visit, with King Charles having last seen his granddaughter Lilibet, four, that same year during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.