On Juneteenth, the Mail’s Eden Confidential column revealed something interesting about Prince Harry and Meghan’s July visit to the UK. Apparently, Harry’s uncle Charles, the Earl Spencer, will close down Althorp for two days next month. A source told the Mail: “This is highly unusual. Once the house is open to visitors, it’s not usually closed.” Charles Spencer only allows visitors into the estate in July and August too. The last time (from what we can tell) that Harry visited his mother’s grave at Althorp was probably in 2022, and Harry wrote about it in Spare. It is possible that he visited Althorp in 2023, 2024 or 2025 and no one had any idea because the Windsors always make Harry’s UK visits all about their own royal psychodrama. Anyway, now People Magazine is basically confirming that Harry is probably taking his kids to Althorp next month:
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expected to bring their family to the U.K. for the first time in four years, and new details offer clues about where they may stay.
Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, are believed to be accompanying their parents to the U.K. in July. Harry’s trip has long been in the works, as he is set to attend events marking the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, which will take place July 10–17, 2027.
The timing has drawn attention to Althorp House, Princess Diana’s ancestral estate in West Northamptonshire, which is about an hour from Birmingham. The estate’s website notes that it will be closed to visitors next month on July 10 and 11, prompting speculation that Harry and his family could visit — or even stay at — the Spencer family home during their trip.
PEOPLE has reached out to a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for comment.
Althorp is also where Princess Diana is buried, and with the family’s visit falling shortly after the late Princess of Wales’s July 1 birthday, it would be a significant visit for Harry, 41, Meghan, 44, and their children. (Lilibet’s middle name is Diana, after her late grandmother.)
Harry has previously stayed at Althorp, which is owned by his uncle, Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, during visits to the U.K., including in August 2024 when he returned for the funeral of Lord Robert Fellowes.
PEOPLE understands that King Charles, 77, has offered his younger son and his family accommodation on a royal estate during their potential U.K. visit. So far, however, no response has been received to the offer. The King has made similar offers before. On previous visits, Harry was offered accommodation at Buckingham Palace, which he declined.
Even if Harry and his family were to stay on a royal estate, no additional security arrangements have been offered. Decisions about protective security are made by the Home Office, not the King. After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from their royal roles in 2020, they lost their taxpayer-funded police protection — a decision Harry has repeatedly challenged in court, citing safety concerns for his family in the U.K.
Many of you put this together last week, so I’m late to the party. I agree with the theory that King Charles only offered “royal accommodation” after he learned that the Earl Spencer would be rolling out the red carpet for the Sussexes. The king despises his former Spencer in-laws and nothing motivates the Windsors more than the Spencers being a million times more gracious, welcoming and accepting. Incidentally, I’ve long believed that Charles Spencer has visited the Sussexes multiple times since they moved to California. Charles Spencer has indicated on his social media that he’s visited California or “the States” multiple times. There’s also a theory that Harry attended his uncle’s most recent wedding in Arizona last month too. Anyway, I’m glad that the Sussexes will spend some time at Althorp.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
