Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have confirmed that Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet will accompany them to the U.K. in July, marking the children’s first reported visit to Britain in several years. The family is expected to travel for events connected to the Invictus Games, a visit that is already drawing attention because of the potential for significant royal family moments while they are in the country.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are bringing their family to the U.K. for the first time in four years, PEOPLE has learned.

It will be the first time that Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, have been in the country since they visited to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth in 2022.

The family plans to stay across a mixture of both royal residence and private accommodation. While Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet will travel with their parents, PEOPLE understands they will not attend any public engagements.

Harry has long maintained that he does not feel it is safe to bring Meghan and their children to the U.K. after losing their taxpayer-funded police protection in 2020. PEOPLE understands that a review of his security arrangements by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), which could affect the level of protection he receives during U.K. visits, has yet to conclude. Representatives for the Duke say RAVEC’s own terms of reference call for a Risk Management Board review at least once a year, but Harry’s last review was conducted nearly seven years ago.

However, if the Sussexes stay at one of the King’s residences, they would be covered by the existing security arrangements at the property. Buckingham Palace revealed on June 19 that King Charles had offered Harry and his family accommodation on a royal estate during their visit, though it has not been disclosed where they will stay.

During their time in the U.K., PEOPLE has learned that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will carry out a series of public engagements centered around the Invictus Games Foundation and Prince Harry’s longtime charitable work.

Harry will attend the 14th Invictus Games Foundation Conversation: From Policy to Practice at Chatham House, while he and Meghan will also take part in a series of private meetings with the Invictus Games Foundation at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

As patron of WellChild, Harry will visit Birmingham Children’s Hospital to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the charity’s first WellChild Nurse.

To mark one year until the 2027 Invictus Games, the couple will visit Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC), the primary venue for the Games. Harry will watch and participate in a series of exhibition events alongside competitors from previous Invictus Games, officially launching the one-year countdown while showcasing both classic and new adaptive sports that will feature in Birmingham.

In his role as Global Ambassador for Scotty’s Little Soldiers, Harry will also attend Scotty’s Summer Festival at Maxstoke Castle in Warwickshire. The charity supports bereaved military children and young people.

The visit opens the door to the children spending time with their grandfather King Charles. Since the family relocated to California in 2020, Archie is believed to have spent only a handful of occasions with the monarch, and King Charles has only once met Lili, who is named after Queen Elizabeth’s childhood nickname.

In addition to the Invictus Games, all eyes will be on whether there are any signs of the couple’s children spending time with their grandfather — and of a wider rapprochement between Prince Harry and the rest of the family.

Amid the longstanding estrangement, the Duke of Sussex has had only fleeting physical contact with his father (two brief meetings over tea) while Meghan has not been in the same room as any members of the royal family since 2022.

A meeting with Harry’s brother, Prince William, 44, is thought by insiders to be less likely, underlining the depth of the rift between the brothers. Prince Harry has made no secret of his desire for a reconciliation with his family, telling the BBC in May 2025, “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore.”

Harry recognized one of the issues between them: the writing of his book, Spare, among other media interviews the couple has done, in which they raised issues with the royal family. “Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things,” Harry said.

In September 2025, when he was in the U.K. for a series of charity events, Prince Harry was invited to see King Charles, spending a little under an hour with him over tea and cake at his London residence, Clarence House.

Harry and Meghan have only returned to the U.K. once with their children, in June 2022, for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee festivities, though Archie and Lilibet did not take part in any public events. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were visiting the U.K. for a series of charity events when the Queen died in September of that year, and they extended their stay to attend her funeral and the surrounding events.

 

There is a chance that the family will visit Althorp, where Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, is buried. She would have been 65 on July 1. It emerged on June 23 that the home, which is regularly open to the public in the summer months, will be closed on the weekend of July 10 and 11, the estate’s website notes.