Much speculation swirled around the return of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the UK: whether the children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, would join them; if a full family reunion with King Charles III and Queen Camilla would play out; what public engagements for the Sussexes as a set could even look like after four years away.
The Duchess of Sussex shared a series of photos to her Instagram that documented just some of their trip. Posted on July 23 and captioned “Summer Holiday,” one image shows Harry, seven-year-old Archie, and five-year-old Lilibet walking down a tree-lined path at Althorp estate, the ancestral home of the Spencer family and where Princess Diana grew up. Seen from behind, they’re carrying large bouquets, so it’s likely they visited Diana’s grave on an island within the estate’s Oval Lake.
The Sussex family stayed at the Northamptonshire estate, one of England’s most well-known stately homes, as a guest of Harry’s uncle, Charles Spencer. The property, on 13,000 acres, has been in the Spencer family for over 500 years. Diana (then Spencer, later the Princess of Wales) lived there from the time of her parents’s divorce until her marriage to King Charles. Diana’s burial site features a Doric-style temple with her name inscribed on top.
The estate’s website noted that it would be closed to visitors on July 10 and 11, so it was widely assumed that Harry, Meghan, and the children would be there.
This trip was Meghan Markle’s first time back in the UK in over four years, having made the permanent move to Montecito in 2020. But it wasn’t her first time visiting Althorp. Harry wrote about visiting on the 25th anniversary of his mother’s death and bringing Meghan in his memoir, Spare. “At long last, I was bringing the girl of my dreams home to meet mum,” he wrote.
Prince Harry took part in a series of charitable events and promotion of the Invictus Games, set to be held in Birmingham next year. Harry and his family had reportedly been expected to stay in a royal residence, but communication issues between the palace and the Sussex’s team collapsed the plan. Then, security fears stalled Meghan and the children immediately joining Harry—it was confirmed they would not receive state-funded security. The results of Harry’s court case against Associated Newspapers also dropped upon his arrival.