But it quickly became clear that as late as 48 hours before the Sussex family, who were holidaying in Europe at the time, were set to return to UK soil, the arrangements were still very much up in the air.

Now, after Harry returned to the UK alone on Monday, he and Meghan have now been accused by royal watchers and fans of having attempted to use Archie and Lilibet as leverage to gain security and special treatment.

And a source says Meghan has been left completely shocked by the suggestion, and believes that this ‘cruel’ accusation may even have been supported by their naysayers behind palace walls.

An insider says, ‘To her this is about as low as it gets. To have people tearing her down and making hurtful and untrue claims is bad enough but to drag her children into it is just beyond the pale. They are going to grow up and potentially read all this poison someday, so it boggles her mind that people could be so cruel.

‘What makes it a thousand times worse is that she’s sure that a lot of this ugly narrative is being sanctioned, or even pushed, by people behind the palace walls, that truly sickens her.

‘She can’t believe anyone would seriously suggest she and Harry are using Archie and Lilibet to blackmail the King to get what they want. As far as Meghan’s concerned, that’s twisted thinking and completely beneath her.’

Eight days after Harry and Meghan’s UK itinerary was reported, it was the announced on Saturday that Harry would be returning alone, due to not having been granted police protection for their family in the UK ‘at the eleventh hour’.

Meanwhile, it has since been made clear that the armed security – which Harry had previously sworn he wouldn’t bring his children to the UK without – had never been withdrawn, because it had never been granted.

So why make their visit and the children’s potential reunion with their grandpa so public without this in place? According to royal observers, the very public twoing and frowing may have been a very deliberate attempt to use the children to ‘blackmail’ the King into attempting to influence the security decisions made by RAVEC [Royal and VIP Executive Committee].

Tom Sykes shared his view on The Royalist podcast, saying, ‘It felt to me like a really blatant attempt, and actually a really mean attempt, to kind of… emotionally blackmail Charles into intervening into the security decisions of the British state.

He added, ‘I’m told by good sources that actually, a lot of this is coming from Meghan.’

Columnist Alison Boshoff also described Harry and Meghan’s actions as ‘intensely manipulative’, while ex Vanity Fair editor and royal author Tina Brown added, ‘If Harry thought that bringing his children would force RAVEC’s hand, he was, as he is so often, hopelessly misguided.’

However, we’re told that for Harry and Meghan – whose security team undertook their own private review and reportedly concluded that Harry could be a target for terrorists at the Invictus Games – the safety of their family remains paramount.

While the couple have made it clear they will travel with their own security, UK law dictates that only the Metropolitan Police Force can carry arms.

‘The thing people don’t seem to understand is that, for Meghan and Harry, this has never been about getting special treatment, it’s about the safety of their children and nothing else,’ the insider says.

‘She and Harry genuinely believe that any parents in their position would make exactly the same decisions if they felt there was even the slightest risk. Of course, it breaks their hearts that Archie and Lilibet aren’t getting the chance to spend time with their grandfather, but until they are given the proper security, they simply can’t risk it.’

However, it was made clear for Meghan and Harry when they made the decision to step down as senior working royals in 2020 that police protection would not be continued as per protocol.

And despite Meghan and Harry pulling their own children into the situation when sources close to them revealed their plans to return to the UK with Archie and Lili ahead of any decision by RAVEC over their security, we’re told Meghan is still blaming ‘people within the Firm’ for attempting to taint every move she and Harry make.

‘She and Harry are both certain that no one would have the gall to go at them this way if they weren’t being fed information from people within the Firm and that makes them even more wary about bringing Archie and Lilibet over,’ the insider says.

‘Every time something like this happens it makes Meghan wonder how she’s ever supposed to rebuild bridges with the rest of the family, for her it feels like they’re out to poison anything good that they try to do.’

As it stands, Meghan and the children are reported not to be joining Harry in London after their request for police protection was denied. However, Harry is due to travel to Birmingham on Thursday to celebrate a series of One Year to Go events ahead of the 2027 Invictus Games, so it is still possible that his family may join him for the latter part of the week.

It was also widely reported how Harry had hoped to take Archie and Lilibet to Althorp House – Princess Diana’s childhood home and final resting place – after the estate announced its closure to the public on 10th and 11th July.

However the situation unfolds, we’re told that there could still be light at the end of the tunnel as the source says that, if plans for Archie and Lili to meet with their grandpa don’t come to fruition in the coming days, Harry and Meghan could be set to plan a reunion in ‘total secrecy’ in the near future.

The insider says, ‘Their hope is that a visit can be arranged with Charles somewhere outside the U.K. under total secrecy because they both feel he’s innocent in all of this; they don’t blame him at all. In fact they both say he’s always shown nothing but love for Archie and Lili.

‘She and Harry genuinely don’t know who else they can trust and it’s a terrible feeling. At this point she’s saying that the best thing they could do is keep their children out of that environment for as long as they possibly can.’

Prince Harry’s warning for cousins Beatrice and Eugenie – after ‘disturbing’ new pictures

Harry warns the princesses over the senior royal he believes is a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’

When Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie stepped out for the wedding of their cousin Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling earlier this month, it wasn’t just their elegant appearance that got royal fans talking. The sisters’ warm reunion with senior members of the Royal Family – particularly Prince William – sparked a fresh wave of speculation about where their loyalties now lie.

The affectionate scenes, which saw William, 44, greeting Beatrice, 37, with a kiss on the cheek, have been widely interpreted by royal insiders as a sign that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson’s daughters are slowly finding their way back into the royal fold after months of uncertainty.

But while the images may have reassured some Palace observers, we’re told they had the opposite effect in California, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly left reeling after seeing the cosy family display.

According to a source, the Sussexes, who are believed to have remained in regular contact with Beatrice and Eugenie during recent months, found the photographs deeply unsettling.

‘Seeing them quite literally kiss up to William after all the hours they’ve spent counselling them on how to handle this threat of eviction he’s been hanging over them was very disturbing for Harry and Meghan,’ the insider says.

‘Clearly the girls are doing all they can to save their own skins and unfortunately that does make Meghan and Harry pretty uneasy. How can they trust them if they’re going to lay at William’s feet the moment that they get the chance?’

For Harry the situation is said to feel especially personal. Long before the royal rift dominated headlines, he shared an exceptionally close bond with his younger cousins – particularly Eugenie, 35. She was among the first members of the family to welcome Meghan after the couple began dating in 2016, while she and husband Jack Brooksbank famously enjoyed double dates with the Sussexes before their 2018 wedding.

Even after Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, stepped away from royal duties in 2020, Eugenie remained one of the few family members to publicly maintain close ties, travelling to Montecito to spend time with the couple during the early years of their new life in California.

That history, insiders say, makes the recent public show of affection towards William all the more painful.

Harry has never hidden the depth of his fractured relationship with his older brother. In his memoir Spare, he detailed years of tension between them, including his allegation that William physically assaulted him during an argument about Meghan.

Against that backdrop, the latest pictures have reportedly fuelled Harry and Meghan’s belief that Beatrice and Eugenie are making a serious mistake by trying so hard to stay on William’s good side.

‘They think they’re being foolish and frankly quite weak by showing him such blatant adoration. They aren’t suggesting they had to be rude but they could have been a little less effusive,’ the insider says.

‘What’s worse is they are now trying to defend William. Meghan and Harry both feel it’s obvious that William is being totally phony and just biding his time until he drops the axe on them. William was nice to Andrew the week before he lost his titles. He’s a total two-faced schemer & the epitome of a wolf in sheep’s clothing in their view.’

However, Beatrice and Eugenie are believed to see the situation rather differently.

Despite valuing Harry and Meghan’s support, they reportedly feel that distancing themselves from the rest of the Royal Family would achieve very little, particularly when their own futures within the institution remain uncertain.

The source explains, ‘Beatrice and Eugenie don’t see the situation in such black-and-white terms. They appreciate Harry and Meghan’s concern and they do value their advice, but they’re simply not prepared to follow them into exile, they still have too much to lose.

‘Whatever frustrations they may have with the institution, they remain part of it and they aren’t ashamed to admit they would like to keep it that way. Their feeling is that they’ve done nothing wrong and shouldn’t have to pay for the mistakes of other family members and they are clinging to this hope, however delusional some people may think it is, that William will come around to seeing it that way as well.’

Their cautious approach comes at a difficult time. Although neither Beatrice nor Eugenie is a working royal, both have found themselves increasingly caught up in the continuing controversy surrounding their parents.

Andrew’s public scandals continue to cast a long shadow over the York family, while Sarah has also remained under scrutiny. As a result, the sisters have frequently found themselves drawn into headlines despite there being no evidence they have committed any wrongdoing.

Adding to the pressure, recent reports about accommodation arrangements for non-working royals have reignited debate over the financial privileges enjoyed by members of the wider Royal Family, placing Beatrice and Eugenie back under the spotlight once again.

At the same time, William is widely expected to continue shaping a smaller, more streamlined monarchy when he eventually becomes King. His vision is believed to focus on a reduced number of working royals, raising ongoing questions about where extended family members might fit into the institution’s future.

Despite those uncertainties, the sisters reportedly remain hopeful that their long-standing relationship with William will count for something.
We’re told, ‘What people have to remember is that William has always been a huge presence in their lives and they desperately want to believe there’s a future where they can maintain a positive relationship with him.

The source says, ‘Of course, there’s some nervousness too because they know how determined he is to clean house and protect the monarchy. Nobody is under any illusions about that. But from their perspective, there’s no advantage in picking a fight before one even exists. They’d much rather focus on building bridges and hoping for the best.’

It’s a delicate balancing act. On one side are Harry and Meghan, who remain deeply distrustful of the institution they left behind. On the other is William, whose commitment to modernising the monarchy has fuelled constant speculation over who may – and may not – feature in its future.

Caught between the two camps, Beatrice and Eugenie appear determined not to burn bridges with either side, even if that means disappointing people they once considered among their closest allies. And according to the insider, this difference in outlook lies at the heart of the growing tension.

The insider says, ‘That’s where the disagreement with Harry and Meghan comes in because they tend to see every friendly interaction as proof that the girls are being naïve, whereas Beatrice and Eugenie just see it as common sense.

‘They were very grateful to be invited to the wedding and treated with courtesy, and they’re choosing to take that at face value. Whether that turns out to be wise remains to be seen.’

For now, the sisters are reportedly following the example set by their late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, by refusing to engage publicly with the endless speculation surrounding their family.

‘There are certainly people who share Harry and Meghan’s suspicion that William is taking a one-problem-at-a-time approach and that his attention is focused elsewhere for now,’ the insider says.

‘But Beatrice and Eugenie have decided there’s no point living in fear of what might happen. Their attitude is that they have to keep showing up, keep doing the right thing and hope they aren’t ultimately judged by the actions of their parents.’

Whether Harry’s reported warning proves prophetic remains to be seen. But after one set of seemingly innocent wedding photographs reignited old divisions, it’s clear that every smile, embrace and public appearance within the House of Windsor is now being viewed through the lens of an increasingly fractured family.