Prince William and Kate Middleton Are Reportedly Avoiding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle When They Visit the U.K. This Week

Prince William, Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 3 September 2022

The Sussexes are returning to the U.K. this week—their first time back across the pond since June’s Platinum Jubilee—and, while in Prince Harry’s home country, will stay at Frogmore Cottage, their home on the Queen’s Windsor estate. Coincidentally, Prince William and Kate Middleton just moved into their new home on the Queen’s Windsor estate, Adelaide Cottage, this weekend.

Yet, despite the two homes only being a few minutes’ drive from one another, according to multiple sources, the Cambridges and the Sussexes have no plans to meet up, and, according to royal expert Christopher Andersen (speaking to Us Weekly) they not only don’t have plans to see one another—but the Cambridges are “trying to avoid” the Sussexes, he says.

“It’s going to be interesting in the next few days when Harry and Meghan go to Europe, and they’re going to be playing royal hide and seek,” Andersen says.

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Harry and Meghan Markle’s schedule is pretty jam-packed and includes visits to multiple countries: according to The Sun, the couple is due to arrive in the U.K. imminently, ahead of their visit to Manchester on Monday for the One Young World Summit. Then they’ll head off to Germany for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year to Go event, before returning to the U.K. for the WellChild Awards on September 8.

According to Andersen, for the first leg of Harry and Meghan’s visit William and Kate will still be with the Queen at Balmoral, her summer home in Scotland. But by the end of their visit William and Kate will be back in town—their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis start school at Lambrook on September 8.

“Right now, the Cambridges have gone to Balmoral [Castle]…and [Prince] Charles and [Duchess] Camilla are there,” Andersen says. “They’re out of the way during the first part of the Sussexes trip to Britain, but on [September 8], the Sussexes return to Britain from Germany. They’re going to be, literally, a brief stroll [away from] each other on the grounds of Windsor because the Cambridges have to [return in time to get their] kids in school.”

The main point of contention between the couples at the moment seems to be Harry’s forthcoming memoir, with its contents largely if not completely unknown to members of the royal family.

“It’s going to have all the markings of an old-fashioned farce with these people trying to avoid each other,” Andersen says. “They don’t want to see each other because everybody’s worried about the [Duke of Sussex’s upcoming memoir]. Harry’s book is going to be loaded with, obviously, bombshells.”

Until more is known about what’s in the book, William and Kate seem keen to keep their distance, Andersen says.

“I would imagine almost anything is going to disturb them,” he says. “I don’t think they want to talk to them until they’ve seen it.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.