THE RUNDOWN
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry moved back to the U.K. with their children in August.
- Despite their return, the couple reportedly won’t be joining the royal family’s Christmas celebrations.
- Instead, they plan to spend the holidays with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have reportedly decided how they want to spend their first Christmas since moving back to the United Kingdom.
According to People, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to celebrate the holiday with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, rather than join the royal family at Sandringham. The couple, who returned to Britain in August with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, also intend to spend Thanksgiving with Ragland.
Where those celebrations will take place, however, has yet to be determined. Ragland still lives in California, and a friend of the couple told The Sunday Times that Harry and Meghan are happy to travel depending on what she prefers.
“For Thanksgiving and Christmas, they will do whatever Doria wants to do,” the friend said. “They would love her to come over to the U.K. and spend it with them here, but they will be wherever she wants to be.”
The arrangement means Harry and Meghan are not expected to attend the royal family’s traditional Christmas gathering at King Charles’s Sandringham estate. Another source told The Sunday Times that the couple does not anticipate receiving an invitation.
“They won’t be having Christmas with the royal family. How could that even work? They know it would be too awkward and too difficult. They also know they’re not going to be invited, and they’re not waiting for an invitation.”
Their return to the U.K. has brought some renewed contact with Harry’s family, although their relationships remain complicated. In July, the Sussexes and their children reportedly joined Charles and Queen Camilla for tea. People reported that Harry and his father have continued speaking by phone, while Harry remains estranged from his brother, Prince William.