It is the first time that the Duchess of Sussex has set foot on UK soil for two years after she and Harry acrimoniously quit as working royals and left the royal family reeling with their score-settling Oprah interview in which they accused an unnamed senior royal of racism.
She last saw the Queen at an awkward Commonwealth Day service on March 8 2020 but has claimed since to regularly speak to her on the phone and over video calls.
Harry, 37, has not seen his grandmother in person since Prince Philip’s funeral last April when he flew over briefly from their new home in the US. But their contact would have been limited because of Covid restrictions.
He has since launched a High Court legal action against the Home Office claiming it is too dangerous to bring his family to the UK after being stripped of his official Metropolitan Police protection.
It is not known how the couple arrived – whether they took a private jet or flew in commercially – but their presence is the talk of locals on the Windsor estate, the Mail understands.
They arrived incognito on Wednesday and are believed to have stayed at Frogmore Cottage, the home they have kept on despite quitting the UK where Princess Eugenie and her family currently stay, overnight.
They are not believed to have their children, Archie and Lilibet with them.
It is believed the couple were on route to the Queen’s official residence to see not only the monarch but Harry’s father, Prince Charles, who was at the residence with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, to stand in for the Queen at the service for the first time.
Harry and his father have spoken only rarely over the last two years and he heavily criticised Charles in last year’s tell-all Oprah interview for failing to support him and allegedly cutting him off financially – claims roundly disputed by supporters of the future king who say he has been left desolate by his younger son’s rejection.
He is also said to be deeply concerned about Harry’s forthcoming memoirs due to be published later this year which he fears will be further used to settle scores.
The couple are understood to have left Windsor yesterday afternoon and are now more than likely in the Netherlands.
Harry was heavily criticised for not attending last month’s memorial service for his late grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died a year ago last Saturday.
But at the time his spokesman said he hoped to see his grandmother ‘soon’.
The couple have flown to Europe to attend the prince’s Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style event he set up for wounded service personnel, at The Hague which opens on Saturday.
There has been intense debate as to whether he – and Meghan – might use the trip as a chance to see the elderly monarch, who will celebrate her 96th birthday on Thursday.
It would have been considered an egregious snub had he not.
But many had wondered whether it could harm his High Court claim if he did set foot on a British soil.
Harry is suing the Home Office after he was stripped on his round the clock taxpayer- funded police protection after quitting the UK.
He has since told the High Court that he is willing to pay for it himself when in the UK as he does not believe he and his family are safe in this country as his own privately-funded civilian team of US bodyguards cannot carry arms and will, he argues, not be kept updated of the relevant intelligence.
Last night a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed that they had been to Windsor to see the Queen.
It comes after it emerged that Harry and Meghan are expected to take a Netflix camera crew with them for a private meeting with the Ukraine team as they head to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands this weekend.
Netflix will follow the Duke and Duchess of Sussex throughout the trip as part of the couple’s $100million deal with the media giant, who are making a documentary about the Paralympic-style games for military veterans.
The film crew will be given exclusive access to the couple in The Hague and are expected to film the behind closed doors meeting between Harry and Meghan and the Invictus team from the war-torn country.
Meanwhile security teams were seen today around The Hague with sniffer dogs and police officers as a ring of steel was put in place before the royal couple jet in from California for the opening ceremony on Saturday.
Harry and Meghan – who have been given so-called VVIP (very, very important person) status by the Dutch authorities – will also be filmed being feted by competitors and their families throughout their trip.
Critics though have accused the couple of cashing in on the games by allowing the Netflix cameras into private meetings. And royal experts believe the VVIP status given the couple will allow Netflix to portray the couple – heavily criticised for failing to attend the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial – in a particularly favourable light.
It comes after sources close to the couple revealed that Harry and Meghan will be given the ‘VVIP’ status in the Netherlands, affording them top-level local protection – which will be seen as an attempt to justify their non-attendance at Prince Philip’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey last month over security concerns.
