Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to spend Christmas away from royal family

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly planning to spend the upcoming Christmas holiday with Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, rather than joining King Charles and the rest of the royal family at Sandringham.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who relocated back to the UK earlier this year in August and enrolled their children—Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet—in school, are reportedly not expecting an invitation to the traditional Norfolk festivities. According to The Sunday Times, sources close to the couple note that attending would be "too awkward and too difficult."

Options for the holidays include flying back to their home in Montecito, California, or celebrating at their current residence in Northamptonshire, England.

King Charles decides the guest list for Christmas

While King Charles resides in the same country, palace insiders emphasize that the monarch maintains absolute authority over the Sandringham guest list. "The King is the CEO, he's the boss—what he says goes," a palace source explained regarding the strict royal hierarchy.

Harry and Meghan last celebrated Christmas with the royal family in 2018, prior to stepping back from their senior royal roles in January 2020 and relocating to the US.

The family rift

Beyond the immediate household dynamics, the rift between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, remains unresolved. Royal historian Amanda Foreman recently described the brothers' estrangement as having transitioned from a "hot war to a very, very cold war."

According to royal author Russell Myers, Prince William has drawn a definitive boundary regarding his brother and sister-in-law. While William leaves any future decisions regarding King Charles' relationship with the Sussexes entirely up to the monarch, the Prince of Wales reportedly intends to maintain no relationship with them in either a working or private capacity.