Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Reunite With Queen Elizabeth 2 Years After Leaving Royal Duties

Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle made a quick pitstop to the United Kingdom on their way to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands. The couple’s spokesperson said the pair visited Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, on Wednesday, April 13, at Windsor Castle, where the monarch relocated to permanently following the COVID pandemic.

No details were released about the meeting or where the couple stayed. Several media outlets reported that the pair did not bring their children, Archie, 2, and Lilibet, 10 months, along on the overseas trip. Buckingham Palace has not commented on the meeting.

This marks the first time Meghan, 40, has returned to the United Kingdom since she and Harry, 37, made their last appearances as working royals in March 2020, before officially stepping down from duties involving the British Royal Family.  The prince returned in April 2021 for his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral, which was the last time he saw his grandmother, who turns 96 on April 21.

Harry was later reunited with his brother, Prince William, in July 2021, when the siblings unveiled a statue of their late mother, Princess Diana, in the sunken gardens on the grounds of Kensington Palace. But the retired royal’s visit was brief, as following the ceremony, he immediately flew back to his $14 million home in Montecito, California, where he and Meghan have lived since the summer of 2020.

The duo’s surprise meeting with Queen Elizabeth comes more than a year after their bombshell interview in which Harry claimed he had been financially cut off by his father, Prince Charles, and the pair said that an unnamed member of the royal family had asked racially tinged questions about what color their son Archie’s skin would be.

Meghan is accompanying Harry to The Hague in the Netherlands for the Saturday, April 16, opening of the Invictus Games, which the former British Army member founded in 2014. The event features wounded and injured veterans from 20 countries competing in a series of series of adaptive sports. The 2022 Invictus Games runs through Friday, April 22. 

As their spokesperson previously confirmed, the Duchess of Sussex will be joining her husband for the first few days of the Invictus Games. A Netflix crew will reportedly accompany the pair, as part of Harry’s previously announced Heart of Invictus project for the streaming service.

“As Archewell Productions’ first series with Netflix, in partnership with the Invictus Games Foundation, I couldn’t be more excited for the journey ahead or prouder of the Invictus community for continuously inspiring global healing, human potential and continued service,” Harry has said of his first foray as a television producer.