Meghan Markle to join Harry for UK trip to unveil Princess Diana statue: Source
Meghan Markle will fly out along with her husband Prince Harry to London for the unveiling of a statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace on July 1, which would have been her 60th birthday, an insider has claimed. The source has said that the Duchess of Sussex doesn't want to send the 36-year-old alone to the UK like the last time he went home for the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip.
The insider told gossip website Radar, “Meghan knows how hard it was to attend his grandfather’s funeral alone and doesn’t want that to happen again. Harry was given the cold shoulder by most of his relatives, with several refusing to talk to him or even make eye contact. Since the funeral things have got worse, not better, so you can only imagine how he will be treated at the big event on July 1st.”
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They added: “Meghan and Harry know the event is going to be dominated by Prince William, Kate and their children. The Cambridges call Kensington Palace home and have been working feverishly to make the entire event is flawless. The day will not just be about honoring Diana on what would have been her 60th birthday, but also an opportunity for William to take ownership of his mother's legacy. That will be more difficult if either Meghan and Harry attend.”
It has also been said that Meghan and Harry’s firstborn, Archie, might accompany them to London, but their newborn girl, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, named after Queen Elizabeth's family nickname and late Princess Diana, will be in the US. The statue will reportedly be placed in the princess' favorite spot, which is the Sunken Gardens.
Earlier, a joint statement by Harry and William had said, “It has been 20 years since our mother’s death and the time is right to recognize her positive impact in the UK and around the world with a permanent statue. Our mother touched so many lives. We hope the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on her life and her legacy.”
However, since then, the relationship between the Sussexes and the royal family has gone south after they left the UK for an independent life in the US in 2020. The already strained relationship became more tense after the pair gave an explosive interview to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, where they accused the royals of racism and also blamed them for mental health issues.
Not just that, in recent weeks, Harry has alleged that after his mother died in 1997, his family did not speak about it and expected him to deal with it all alone. The father-of-two was just 12 at the time. He also said that he did not receive any support from his family while he and Meghan were trolled online. “Every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, to stop just got met with total silence or total neglect. We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job,” Harry revealed in ‘The Me You Can't See’, which was released on May 21.
But it seems with the unveiling of Diana’s statue, the Queen wants to mend the broken relations. The source said that the 95-year-old monarch would be more than happy to see her grandsons standing together with their wives. It has also been reported that her Highness has invited Harry for lunch at Windsor Castle while he will be in the UK. “It’s a typically magnanimous gesture by Her Majesty. The lunch will be a chance for them to talk things through,” a courtier has said.