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Prince Harry will be in London next week, but he won’t receive a warm welcome from his family.
The Duke of Sussex will return to the U.K. on Jan. 19 for the latest court date in his ongoing legal battle against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, will be in Scotland — hundreds of miles away — for a joint engagement, People magazine reported.
King Charles will also be in Scotland, with an engagement Monday at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the outlet reported.
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While Prince Harry returns to London for a court case on Jan. 19, 2026, Prince William and Kate Middleton will be hundreds of miles away in Scotland. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images; Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“Surprise, surprise,” royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. “In 2026, the rift between the two brothers is still simmering away. A battle royale continues.”
Turner noted that the royal family — specifically William — likely knew Harry’s trial date months ago. However, royal engagements are planned well in advance. Still, it’s believed the brothers aren’t on speaking terms and haven’t been since 2020.
Turner expressed greater hopes for Harry’s strained relationship with his father.
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“There will be no official meeting between Harry and King Charles,” Turner said. “However, that doesn’t stop behind-the-scenes, high-level negotiations between Harry and the king’s officials.”
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital that Harry remains at odds with William, the heir to the British throne.
Royal experts claimed to Fox News Digital that Prince Harry and Prince William are not on speaking terms. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
“William and Catherine obviously won’t see Harry while he’s involved with a court case,” he said. “William reportedly hasn’t spoken to his brother. After Harry’s interviews with the BBC and The Guardian last year — not to mention what happened previously — the royal family is unlikely to trust the Sussexes.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales will be in Scotland during King Charles’s stay there. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
While Harry is in the courtroom, William and Kate will be visiting the National Curling Academy in Stirling to meet Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic curling teams ahead of the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, People reported.
According to the outlet, the Prince and Princess of Wales will also visit Radical Weavers, a hand-weaving studio where visitors learn about the heritage of Scottish tartan.
Prince William visits a family-run farm in Herefordshire as patron of “We Are Farming Minds,” a Herefordshire-based charity which is committed to supporting farmers and promoting good mental health among the farming community across the U.K. on Jan. 15, 2026, in Hereford, England. (Richard Pohle-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Fitzwilliams noted it will be hard for William and Kate to avoid coverage of Harry’s visit — and it likely won’t be the last.
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Prince Harry’s time in London has been largely driven by his ongoing legal battles. (Carl Court/Getty Images)
“Given the sensitivities involved, the length of the rift and its worldwide profile, speculation remains endless,” he said.
“However, the likely plan is that Harry and Meghan will return in the summer for a special ‘year-to-go’ event marking the Invictus Games. They’ll probably also see King Charles. I see Harry’s victory in his security case as part of a master plan. [But] the outrage of royal supporters and fury of the press will undoubtedly follow.”
Catherine, Princess of Wales smiles and gestures while meeting members of the England Women’s rugby team at Windsor Castle on Jan. 15, 2026. (Kin Cheung – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
People magazine previously reported that several high-profile figures, including Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Jude Law’s ex-wife Sadie Frost, are suing Associated Newspapers for alleged illegal information gathering. It has “vigorously” denied the allegations, the BBC reported.
Meghan Markle won’t be accompanying Prince Harry to London. (Mat Hayward/FilmMagic)
Fox News Digital previously reached out to Archewell for comment.
Royal sources told The Telegraph that the king, 77, has “no wish to be linked to any court proceedings.”
King Charles III doesn’t want to be involved with any legal proceedings. (Paul Ellis – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“Prince Harry is accustomed to a life built on conflict,” British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital. “He has sued the Mail on Sunday and much more, to the embarrassment of his father. He still maintains that he has been stitched up by the establishment. It’s a no-brainer, and safe to say, that King Charles will not be seeing Prince Harry.”
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King Charles III is seen arriving at Clarence House on Sept. 10, 2025, in London. The monarch had a private tea with his son, Prince Harry. (Belinda Jiao/Getty Images)
In September, Harry reunited with his father for the first time in 18 months. The father of two had a private tea with the monarch at Clarence House, Fox News Digital learned.
The Telegraph reported that the meeting lasted 50 minutes and was considered a major step toward reconciliation in the midst of an ongoing family rift. The outlet also noted that the relationship thawed at the time.
Prince Harry leaves The Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London on Sep. 10, 2025. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Harry has been estranged from his family since he and his wife stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California. They cited the unbearable intrusions of the British press and a lack of support from the palace as the reasons for their exit.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020. (Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images)
Since settling in the wealthy coastal city of Montecito, the couple aired their grievances in interviews and documentaries. Harry’s 2023 memoir, “Spare,” which exposed embarrassing details about the House of Windsor, worsened his relationship with the royals.
Sources close to Harry, 41, told People magazine that Charles wouldn’t respond to his phone calls or letters. Royal experts previously told Fox News Digital that William and Harry were not on speaking terms.
Prince Harry has been estranged from his family since his royal exit in 2020. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
In October, a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex denied reports that the prince’s meeting with his father left him feeling like an “official visitor.” A statement sent to People magazine read: “The quotes attributed to him are pure invention fed, one can only assume, by sources intent on sabotaging any reconciliation between father and son.”
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Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain’s High Court, in central London on March 28, 2023. The Duke of Sussex and pop superstar Elton John appeared at a London court, delivering a high-profile jolt to a privacy claim launched by celebrities and other figures against a newspaper publisher. (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich claimed to Fox News Digital at the time that the monarch was “saddened” after Harry appeared to accuse palace aides of sabotaging peace talks.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, along with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, leave after escorting the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Hall from Buckingham Palace on Sept. 14, 2022. England’s longest-reigning monarch was 96. (Emilio Morenatti – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“Prince Harry’s counterproductive statement definitely caused disappointment for King Charles III, who was rather surprised and saddened,” said Fordwich. “It overall makes future peace talks harder and reaffirms Prince William’s skepticism.”
In May, Harry told the BBC he wanted to reconcile with his family.
From left: Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry are seen here spearheading a new campaign called “Heads Together” on April 21, 2016, in London. (Nicky J Sims/Getty Images for Royal Foundation)
“I would love reconciliation with my family,” he said at the time. “There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Harry admitted that “some members of my family will never forgive me” for writing his memoir. He went on to say, “It would be nice to have that reconciliation part now. If they don’t want that, that’s entirely up to them.”
Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare” on display in a bookstore on Jan. 11, 2023, in Bath, England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
Kinsey Schofield, host of YouTube’s “Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered,” told Fox News Digital that when it comes to initiating peace talks with the royals, the ball is in Harry’s court.
PRINCE HARRY, MEGHAN MARKLE FACE SLIM PATH TO RECONCILING WITH THEIR AILING FATHERS, HEAL FAMILY FEUD: EXPERTS
According to the royal experts, Prince Harry is still navigating his life in California. (Aaron Chown/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“It would be wildly unrealistic for Harry to expect his father to travel to Montecito to see him,” she explained. “Particularly, if reports are accurate, that RAVEC has reassessed Harry’s security and determined he would receive automatic protection upon entering the U.K. If that’s the case, then the responsibility to visit clearly lies with Harry and Meghan.”
“If Harry fails to use this revised security status to immediately plan a visit with his children to see his father, it will raise questions about the sincerity of his security campaign and his BBC interview performance,” she added.
Prince Harry and Prince William attend the unveiling of a statue of their mother, Princess Diana, at The Sunken Garden in Kensington Palace on July 1, 2021, which would have been her 60th birthday. (Dominic Lipinski/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The Times of London reported in December that Harry has not spoken to his father since their reunion in September and is not in contact with the Prince and Princess of Wales. A source in London called suggestions that Harry and his father are on speaking terms “laughable.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are raising their two young children in Montecito. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
Harry has repeatedly said that he’s unable to bring his family to the U.K. without security because it isn’t safe.