When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry decided to leave the UK and step back from their roles as working royals, they initially hoped to continue serving the crown in some capacity.

However, their plans for a part-time royal service model were quickly rejected by the royal household, leaving the couple to forge their own path.

Since their departure from royal duties, Meghan and Harry have visited the UK together on a few occasions, but Harry has returned to his homeland alone more frequently than with his wife.

According to a royal expert, there is a particular reason that makes it unlikely Meghan will join her husband on trips to the UK in the near future, which is quite disheartening.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have relinquished many aspects of royal life since stepping back, including royal patronages and their Windsor residence, Frogmore Cottage, which was gifted to them by the late Queen upon their marriage.

Harry returned solo to celebrate 10 years of Invictus

However, one of their most significant losses has been their police security, previously funded by taxpayers. This loss has posed challenges for the couple, particularly Meghan, in spending time in the UK.

Jennie Bond, formerly royal correspondent for the BBC, explained to OK! Magazine, that this was in her view one of the reasons that Meghan didn’t accompany Harry on a recent trip he made back to his home country to celebrate ten years of the Invictus Games. “I think this is pretty unlikely that Meghan will join him at the service given Harry’s concerns about safety,” the expert explained.

During an ongoing legal dispute with the Home Office over his police security provision in the UK – which is currently decided on a “bespoke” case-by-case basis – Harry’s legal team claimed, that the Duke “does not feel safe when he is in the UK”. Bond also noted that amid “ongoing family tensions”

Meghan may find it difficult to join her husband to any planned visits back to the UK, adding in regards to the Invictus Anniversary, “I don’t think her presence would make any reconciliation moves easier. I think she would, rightly, be nervous about the reception she might get from any public gathered outside the cathedral.”

When it was announced that King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer, Harry swiftly returned to the UK to see his father, and he and Meghan also sent a message of support to Kate after she revealed her own health challenges, wishing her “health and healing” and supporting the Princess of Wales ‘ desire for privacy as she focuses on her treatment and recovery.

However, when Harry returned solo to celebrate 10 years of Invictus, his spokesperson announced that it had not been possible for the Duke of Sussex to schedule any time with his father the King, and nor did he see his elder brother William, with whom he has had a strained relationship for the last few years.

Harry did, reportedly, invite both his father and brother to the special anniversary service for Invictus at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and whilst they did not attend, his maternal family showed up in full force to celebrate the landmark moment.