There’s a lot of speculation surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reconnecting with the Royal Family following the birth of their second child, Baby Lili – but it looks like a complete family reunion won’t be happening in person just yet.
Last year it was announced that Prince Harry and Prince William commissioned a statue of their late mother, Princess Diana, which will be installed in Kensington Palace.
Princess Di died in a car crash in Paris, France back in 1997. The statue was originally commissioned in 2017, on the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, and it’s meant to “recognize her positive impact in the United Kingdom and around the world.”
Prince Harry is expected to return to the U.K. for the unveiling of the statue, which will be a whole event happening on July 1 – the date of what would have been Princess Di’s 60th birthday – where Princes Harry and William are reportedly giving separate speeches.
“You might have thought they’d go for a joint statement and speech but that’s not the case. Each has insisted on preparing their own,” a royal insider told The Sun in May. “The brothers will be physically together for the ceremony but want to make their own personal addresses.”
Prince Harry and Meghan welcomed their daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, on June 4. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared the special meaning behind her name in their announcement: “Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales.”
According to royal experts, the Sussexes naming their daughter after the Queen is an “olive branch” to the Royal Family amid the royal rift. And members of the Royal Family have actually spoken out about Baby Lili’s arrival – Prince Charles called it “such happy news”; Kate Middleton said she “can’t wait to meet” Baby Lili.
Prince Harry attending the event will be the first time he reunites with his family since his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral in April. And, per the Daily Mail, Prince Harry has also been invited by the Queen for a one-on-one lunch while he’s there.
“It’s a typically magnanimous gesture by Her Majesty,” a courtier told the outlet. “The lunch will be a chance for them to talk things through.”
Despite earlier reports of Prince Harry bringing Meghan as his “secret guest” to the event, other sources are saying she will reportedly be staying put in their home in Montecito, California, with their two children two-year-old Archie and Baby Lili.
“Meghan has just had a baby and has no plans to travel to London for the memorial event planned for the statue unveiling in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace,” a source tells Entertainment Tonight.
“Meghan is not going to travel,” another source close to the couple told the Daily Mail. “She has just had a baby and Harry will travel alone.”
Baby Lili would be less than a month old at the time of the event, and travelling with a newborn isn’t exactly ideal – especially with a pandemic going on. However, if Meghan were to join Prince Harry, it would mark her first reunion with the Royal Family since their last official engagements at the palace in March 2020.
