Prince Harry will not stay at Buckingham Palace during London visit

Prince Harry is set to visit London for the Invictus Games. Royal commentator Afua Hagan discusses his concerns with security and whether he will visit family.

Prince Harry will not stay at Buckingham Palace during his stay in Britain this week, the palace said, despite a spokesman for the king’s second son telling media on Monday that he had accepted an invitation to do so.

The BBC reported that Harry had not formally responded to the offer of royal accommodation at a Royal residence by a deadline, and was told over the weekend that he could no longer stay at Buckingham Palace in central London.

The prince’s visit to London and Birmingham for a series of charity engagements has sparked speculation as to whether the estranged royal would spend time with his father, King Charles, or stay in a royal palace.

But the build-up to the trip has been overshadowed by a dispute with the government over security, and a spokesman for the prince said on Sunday that Harry’s wife Meghan and children would not join him on the trip to London, but could join later when he visits Birmingham.

Harry has lived in the United States since 2020 with his American wife Meghan, after they stepped down as working members of the royal family, citing a desire to be financially independent and to escape what they characterized as media intrusion into their private lives.

Over the six years since, the depth of the bad blood between Harry and his father and brother has become clear, made public in interviews given by Harry and in his autobiography.

The king, who is still undergoing treatment for cancer, has barely seen his two grandchildren since they were born but Harry said in May last year he wanted the fighting to end.

Harry’s spokesman had originally said that he would be staying in a mix of royal and private accommodation.

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Kate Holton and Sam Tabahriti; editing by William James