Prince Harry is feeling ‘really positive’ and is ‘so excited’ to come back to the UK tomorrow – as it’s revealed a meeting with King Charles is ‘not off the table’

Prince Harry is feeling ‘so excited’ about his upcoming trip to the UK for the WellChild Awards on Monday. 

The Duke of Sussex, 40, is set to jet to London as part of a four-day visit to spend time with several of his patronages, before moving up the country to Nottingham. 

Harry moved to the US five years ago with his wife Meghan Markle after stepping down as senior members of the royal family in 2020. 

Since, his visits back to his homeland have been rare, and he was last in the UK in April for his High Court hearing into changes to his security arrangements. He is set to arrive home as his father, King Charles, stays in Balmoral in Scotland, but a meeting is said to be ‘not off the table’. 

Despite losing his appeal for taxpayer-funded security in May, the Duke is now said to be in a ‘really good headspace’ and is feeling ‘really positive’ about his upcoming visit. 

A source told Hello Magazine: ‘He’s so excited to come back to the UK.

‘He’s in a really good headspace. He’s really looking forward to seeing everyone from his patronages face to face and focusing on the causes. 

‘He’s really positive about coming back to do all the stuff that he loves doing.’ 

Harry’s trip will be his longest since returning for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth in 2022. 

It is not known whether he will meet with his father King Charles, who will be away in Scotland, or his estranged brother Prince William, during his time in the UK. However, Charles is set to be in the capital mid-week for his cancer treatment. 

Currently, there is no specified window for a meeting with Charles. However, The Mail on Sunday reported last night that should an invitation to meet be extended, Harry would drop everything to attend.

A source said: ‘A meeting with Charles is not off the table but the only people who would know about it are Clive Alderton [the King’s private secretary] and Charles and Harry.

‘If anything is planned, then he is keeping this extremely close to his chest. It certainly is part of his intention to see his father.

‘If it’s on Wednesday, then he would make it work.’

The King has not seen Harry since February 2024, when they had a 30-minute meeting after the monarch revealed he had cancer. 

Harry is not expected to be accompanied by his wife Meghan Markle or his children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who will remain home in Montecito, California.

In May, the Duke lost a Court of Appeal challenge over his security arrangements while in the UK and claimed in a BBC interview soon after that he ‘can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK’.

Then in July, there was a meeting between two members of Harry and Meghan’s communications team and the King’s aide at a private members’ club in London.

Harry’s latest trip comes just over a week before the King is due to host US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania for a state visit from September 17.

In May, Harry said that he ‘misses the UK’ but that he could not envision returning with his family.

‘I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point,’ he told the BBC.

‘And the things they’re going to miss, well, everything … I miss the UK.’

But a friend has now revealed that the royal wants to ‘bring his family back to the UK’ to show his children ‘where he grew up’.

‘He’s not given up hope on bringing his family back to the UK,’ they told The Times.

‘He wants to be able to show his children where he grew up. He wants them to know their family here. He really would like to come back to the UK much more.’   

The Duke of Sussex will celebrate the achievements and resilience of seriously ill youngsters and their families during a rare UK visit for the event on September 8, which is also the third anniversary of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Harry, 40, will be present at the ceremony for the 15th time at an undisclosed venue as he continues his role as the charity’s patron, a position he has held for 17 years. 

The Duke will spend time with each winner and their families at a pre-ceremony reception then present an award to an inspirational child aged four to six.

On Tuesday, he will visit Nottingham to visit the Community Recording Studio in St Anns, where he will announce a ‘substantial’ donation to Children In Need, according to Hello!. 

In a statement issued by WellChild announcing his visit, the Duke said: ‘I am always privileged to attend the WellChild Awards and meet the incredible children, families and professionals who inspire us all with their strength and spirit.

‘For 20 years these awards have highlighted the courage of young people living with complex health needs and shone a light on the devoted caregivers – family and professionals – who support them every step of the way.

‘Their stories remind us of the power of compassion, connection and community.’

The awards celebrate the inspiring qualities of some of the country’s seriously ill young people and the dedication of those who keep them healthy and happy, including health, social care and education professionals.

Harry regularly attends the annual event – now in its 20th year – hosted by WellChild, the national charity which provides a nationwide network of nurses, home makeover projects and family support programmes.

Last year’s ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London was attended by celebrities including Rod Stewart, Penny Lancaster, Rylan Clark, KSI, Oti Mabuse, Beverley Knight and Pixie Lott – and was hosted by Gaby Roslin.

The awards in 2022 were held on the same day that Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral aged 96, forcing Harry and Meghan to withdraw from the event as the Duke flew to Scotland to be with other members of the Royal Family.

Harry later spoke to the winners via a video call from his home in California, and apologised for not having been able to meet them in person.

WellChild chief executive Matt James said in a statement: ‘We are excited to celebrate the 20th WellChild Awards, in association with GSK. Across the UK, more and more families are caring for children with serious and complex medical needs.

‘Behind each winner’s story is a network of extraordinary people who go above and beyond every single day.

‘The WellChild Awards give us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the resilience of these remarkable children and young people and the commitment of those around them – from parents and siblings, to the professionals who all play their part in ensuring that these children can thrive at home and in their communities.’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex left the UK for Montecito, California in 2020. 

But they first took up residency in Nottingham Cottage – in the grounds of Kensington Palace – and in Frogmore Cottage close to Windsor after their marriage in 2018. 

By royal standards it was a modest home featuring two bedrooms, one bathroom, small reception rooms and a kitchen.

But it did also have access to all the amenities in Kensington Palace and the other royal homes.

Meghan’s disdain for the ‘tiny’ Nottingham cottage is well documented.

Writing in his royal bestseller Yes Ma’am, Tom Quinn claimed that the first sign that all was not well with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex became apparent while they were living within the grounds of Kensington Palace.

Quinn said: ‘Starting life as a member of the royal family in Nottingham Cottage was the beginning of all Meghan’s troubles – she felt it was so small that it must be a reflection on how the royal family were belittling her husband.

‘She just didn’t understand that real royals don’t care much about houses and material possessions because having always had them they take them for granted.’

According to Quinn, Meghan not only believed the home was too small for her larger standards but she was ‘compounded by a vague feeling that the Kensington Palace staff tended to treat Harry as less important than his brother’.

At the time, Prince William and Kate Middleton lived in the much larger apartment 1A inside the palace itself.

A member of the communications team who was particularly close to Meghan told Quinn: ‘Meghan spotted immediately that Harry wasn’t quite as central to things as his brother William.

‘This was the start of the whole grievance thing about being the spare.

‘I don’t think Harry had even thought much about the fact that he was a spare until well into his marriage. Meghan managed to give him more perspective because she could see the family from the outside.’

During Harry and Meghan’s time living at Kensington Palace concerns were raised about their treatment of staff.

One member of staff told Quinn that Meghan could be ‘quite demanding’ and wanted to be involved in ‘every detail of her royal life’.

Complaints about their behaviour eventually reached Prince William who allegedly went ‘ballistic’ at the news.

Harry and Meghan then moved to the much larger Frogmore Cottage after Archie was born in 2019.

According to esteemed royal historian Hugo Vickers, there was ‘trouble’ while Harry and Meghan were living at the royal house between 2019 and March 2020.

In one incident, the Duchess of Sussex was allegedly so rude to an under gardener that the head gardener in Windsor felt the need to complain to the late Queen, who then drove over to Meghan to give her a dressing down.

‘The head gardener went to complain to the Queen and she told Meghan off because she obviously didn’t like people being rude to staff,’ Mr Vickers told The Sun.

Away from the palace, Meghan has developed a reputation in the workplace for being difficult to work with.

In September 2024, an unnamed source told another publication that they witnessed ‘people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s***’.

Another source claimed that Meghan ‘screamed’ at a florist down the phone for half an hour after they failed to mention in a post online that the Duchess of Sussex was working with them on a bouquet.

However, other reports about Meghan’s behaviour have claimed she is not so difficult to work with.

Producer Jane Marie, who worked with Harry and Meghan during development of Archewell audio projects, insisted to Vanity Fair that Meghan is ‘just a lovely, genuine person’.

Other staff members have claimed that she would end her employees gifts ranging from dog leashes to skincare products.