Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Busy Planning a California Christmas for Archie and Lilibet, Says Royal Source
The Sussexes will be seeing Grandma Doria for the holidays.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might have moved back to Britain for the time being, but they’ll be heading home for the holidays. It was previously reported by the Sunday Times that the Sussexes “know they're not going to be invited” to Christmas with the Royal Family, and now a source has told People that Meghan is “looking forward” to returning to California for the holiday season.
“She does miss home—and her mom,” the insider told People. “They’re planning to come back for the holidays. Meghan’s looking forward to seeing her friends and making plans with them already.”
The Duchess of Sussex is famously close with her mother, Doria Ragland—who also lives in the Los Angeles area—and no doubt Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet miss seeing their grandmother regularly.
Prince Harry and Meghan are pictured with Prince William and Princess Kate on Christmas Day 2018.
Meghan is pictured attending her first Christmas with the Royal Family in 2017.
A friend of the Sussex family told the Sunday Times that Ragland would be taking the lead when it came to their holiday plans. "For Thanksgiving and Christmas, they will do whatever Doria wants to do,” the source 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."
Royal watchers have wondered if Harry and Meghan would join King Charles at Sandringham for Christmas now that they’re living in England again, but their friend shut down that idea.
"They won't be having Christmas with the Royal Family. How could that even work?” the source said. “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."
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Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.
Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.
Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.