Meghan Markle will support Prince Harry at the unveiling of Princess Diana’s statue

A source close to the Sussexes is understood to have dismissed reports Meghan Markle was planning to travel to London for the unveiling of the new Princess Diana statue.   

Radar Online published a report claiming the Duchess of Sussex, 39, wanted to fly to the UK to support her husband at the family event on July 1. 

It quoted a source who said Meghan wanted to be by Harry’s side as he faced his family for the first time since the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral and subsequent interviews in which he accused the family of passing on ‘genetic pain’. 

The claim has since been dismissed, with a source close to Harry and Meghan telling the Daily Mirror: ‘Meghan is not going to travel. She has just had a baby and Harry will travel alone.’ 

Meghan Markle will not fly out to London for the unveiling of the new Princess Diana statue at Kensington Palace, a source told ITV, after an American website reported she would make the journey. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in November 2018

ITV Royal Producer Lizzie Robinson also tweeted: ‘Meghan will not fly to the UK to join Harry for the unveiling of a statue of his late mother Princess Diana on July 1st, a source confirmed after a US website claimed she would be attending.’ 

Prince Harry and Prince William will reunite to unveil the statue in their mother’s honour on July 1, what would have been her 60th birthday. 

The statue is set to be placed and unveiled in the princess’ favourite spot on Kensington Palace’s grounds, in the Sunken Gardens. 

The Queen has reportedly invited Prince Harry for lunch at Windsor Castle during his visit. 

‘It’s a typically magnanimous gesture by Her Majesty,’ a courtier told Richard Eden. ‘The lunch will be a chance for them to talk things through.’

It would be the first time that Harry has had a tete-a-tete with his grandmother since he and Meghan announced that they were quitting Britain more than a year ago.

Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview

After the rancour of the Sandringham summit and tense ‘Megxit’ negotiations, she hosted an informal Sunday lunch for Harry in March 2020 — a month before he and Meghan formally stepped down as working members of the Royal Family.

They ate in the Queen’s dining room in her Windsor Castle apartment. When Harry attended the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, he spoke to the Queen only outdoors with other members of the Royal Family.

They will certainly have much to discuss. In his and Meghan’s now infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, they made a string of distressing claims about the Royal Family and accused an unnamed royal of racism.

In a string of public appearances since, Harry has blamed his family for his mental anguish and said just the thought of flying back to London was enough to fill him with dread.

The Queen, by contrast, has made clear that Harry and Meghan will be ‘much loved family members’. A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment.