Harry Won't Bring Meghan Back to UK

Prince Harry says he refuses to bring his wife, Meghan Markle, to the UK because he does not believe she is safe there. "It's still dangerous," the Duke of Sussex tells ITV's Tabloids on Trial. "All it takes is one lone actor, one person ... to act on what they have read," he says, referring to negative press reports about his family. "And whether it's a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are things that are of genuine concern for me. It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country."

A former head of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Police previously revealed there were genuine threats to Markle's life when she lived in the UK, per People. She had been subject to intense media scrutiny and what some argued was racist reporting. Prince Harry has said security concerns were the primary reason the couple chose to step back from royal duties and leave the UK, eventually settling in California in 2020. The Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures then removed their automatic right to UK police security.

A High Court judge rejected Harry's offer to cover the costs of security, though the Duke of Sussex plans to appeal the decision. He's argued his family cannot "feel at home" in his native country "if there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on UK soil."
The Duchess of Sussex has returned to the UK only a handful of times, most recently for events marking the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022. The couple's two children—Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3—were last in the UK in June of that year.

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Harry also speaks about how his efforts to expose phone hacking by the press contributed to the rift with his family in the documentary. He says he was disappointed the royal family didn't join his fight, though he believes he has the support of the late Queen Elizabeth. "We had many conversations before she passed," he tells ITV, per People. "This is very much something she supported, she knew how much this meant to me," he adds. "She is up there going, 'See this through to the end,' without question." (More Prince Harry stories.)