Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘accept an invitation from the Queen to join her at Balmoral this summer’ – and could bring Baby Archie along for the first time
- Archie Mountbatten-Windsor may make his first trip to Queen’s Scottish retreat
- His absence from royal life is understood to have made The Queen ‘very sad’
- Last year Harry and Meghan turned down the Queen’s invitation to Balmoral
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have accepted an invitation from the Queen to join her at Balmoral this summer, it has been reported – and they could bring Archie along for the first time.
Archie Mountbatten-Windsor – who turns one in May – could be making his first trip to the Queen’s Scottish retreat after Harry and Meghan turned down the invitation last year.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are also expected to spend time with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Birkhall, Charles’s retreat on the Balmoral estate, according to The Times.
However, Baby Archie may accompany his parents to Britain in June when they attend trooping the colour.
Archie Mountbatten-Windsor – who turns one in May – could be making his first trip to the Queen’s Scottish retreat with his parents later this year. He is pictured meeting The Queen
His absence from his birth country and his wider family is understood to have left the Queen feeling ‘very sad’.
Archie remained in Canada last week with the Sussexes’ nanny and Meghan’s friend Jessica Mulroney while Harry and Meghan completed their final official engagements in the UK.
Last September the Queen was said to have been ‘disappointed’ when the Sussexes turned down her invitation to Balmoral.
At the time sources close to the couple insisted that the decision should not be seen as a ‘snub’.
The family were ‘too busy’ – and four-month-old Archie ‘too young’ – to make the trip, according to their spokeswoman, a decision viewed by some as puzzling.
Last September the Queen was said to have been ‘disappointed’ when the Sussexes turned down her invitation to Balmoral (pictured)
Despite their decision, the couple had taken Archie on holiday to Ibiza and to Sir Elton John’s villa in the south of France earlier in the summer.
The Mail on Sunday understood the Queen was ‘hurt and disappointed’ at a time when she likes to bring her friends and family together.
The annual Highland holiday is the Queen’s favourite time of the year and she was, according to a source, looking forward to ‘a few days of merry chaos’ with the great-grandchildren, including Archie.
It is not known whether the Sussexes’ visit to Balmoral will coincide with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s annual trip to Scotland with their children, George, Charlotte and Louis.
The Queen and Prince Philip first met their great-grandchild in May at Windsor Castle, when he was two days old.
The last official sighting of Archie was a photograph of Harry holding his son, published on the Sussex Royal Instagram account on New Year’s Eve.
He has spent the past four months in Canada, where the Sussexes have been staying on Vancouver Island.
Kensington Palace declined to comment when contacted this evening by MailOnline.