Back in December 2018, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry spent an uneventful few days at Sandringham celebrating the holidays with the rest of the royals, where they attended the traditional Christmas church service and made an appearance at the Boxing Day pheasant hunt. But the couple hasn’t returned to Queen Elizabeth’s Norfolk estate since that year, and their supposed lack of fealty to the tradition has spawned an annual “will they or won’t they” news cycle among royal sources and the tabloids.
The 2021 version kicked off in September, when the Sun reported that Meghan and Harry were gunning for an invite to join the Windsors for Christmas. It continued on Wednesday, when Page Six spoke to multiple royal sources who believe that Meghan and Harry will not be joining the royals for Christmas this year, despite the fact that they were invited. That might not seem like news to anyone familiar with the difficulties of air travel in the midst of a pandemic, but it is worth noting the commentary that came with the information.
One royal source was surprised that the couple wouldn’t want to be with the queen now that Prince Philip has died. “There’s a lot that goes into the logistics and the planning of the family Christmas, so of course, staff know that Harry and Meghan are not coming,” the source said. “If they were, they would have communicated it to their family by now. But this is Her Majesty’s first Christmas without her husband, so one would have hoped they would want to be with her.”
Another source was dismayed that the couple might not return until the queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year. “If that is the first time they are back in the country since Megxit, and they suck all the oxygen from the queen, that will be just terrible,” the insider said.
So far Meghan and Harry have not shared any official information about their holiday plans or when they intend to return to the U.K., so this could be speculation. The royal sources are anonymous, so it’s difficult to discern why they decided to share their intel and even harder to figure out why they care. It seems like a long-awaited family reunion might actually be more stressful for everyone involved, especially for the queen, who has been facing issues with her health.
When the couple first skipped the traditional Sandringham Christmas in 2019, they announced their plan to spend Christmas with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, well in advance. Later on, various outlets reported that they spent the holiday in the mansion on Vancouver Island they rented to decompress and plan their royal exit. In the couple’s interview with Oprah in March, they revealed that communications between them and the rest of the family had become strained in late 2019, with Harry claiming that Prince Charles was no longer taking his phone calls.
In October 2020, a source close to the couple told Vanity Fair that they had no plans to travel to the U.K. for the holidays, due in part to Harry‘s difficulties with Prince William. “Let’s just say that while things are better between Harry and his brother,” the source said. “It’s not what it was, and I don’t think anyone is ready for a cozy family Christmas right now.” Ultimately, Harry and Meghan subsequently spent the holiday season on their Montecito estate and, like most Americans, shopping for Christmas trees and playing outside with their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
Now, with the addition of five-month-old daughter Lili, who was born in June, the family has even more reason to stay put for the holidays. Though Meghan and Harry were able to travel to New York City twice this year, perhaps they can be forgiven for not boarding a transatlantic flight simply to avoid sucking “all the oxygen” if they do return next year. Though Harry came face-to-face with his brother at Philip’s April funeral and a July ceremony dedicating a statue to Princess Diana, they are still reportedly on the outs. The queen might be well-known for her skills as a diplomat, but even she hasn’t been able to get Charles, William, and Harry on the same page. Maybe everyone should be relieved that they won’t be trying to repair their relationships while holding firearms.
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