Prince Harry and wife Meghan are joining other royals in travelling to Balmoral, Scotland, where Harry’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II has been placed “under medical supervision” by her doctors.
UPDATE: 5 p.m. — Contrary to earlier reports, Meghan is not travelling to Balmoral to see the ailing monarch with her husband. She will remain in London — but skip the charity event she and Harry had previously been scheduled to attend. Original report continues below:
The Earl and Countess of Dumbarton, as the couple are known in Scotland, moved to Meghan’s native California after abandoning their public duties as “working royals” in order to pursue activism and money-making ventures, but are currently in the United Kingdom, seemingly by chance, for the WellChild awards in London this evening.
The Queen’s great-grandchildren by Meghan and Harry, Archie and Lilibet, are still in America, however.
Meghan and Harry’s relationship with the wider royal family has become strained since they transitioned from their public roles into more of a celebrity lifestyle, particularly after they appeared to accuse their relatives of racism in a controversial interview with U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
It is claimed that Prince Charles, Harry’s father and the heir to the thrones of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the other Commonwealth realms, invited his younger son to Balmoral, where the Queen is staying, in an attempt to mend fences — but was refused.
Meghan recently said that her husband had “lost [his] dad” in “this process” during a bizarre interview with The Cut.
Whether the reunion with Harry’s relatives at what may prove to be a critical time in the life of the family matriarch can result in a lasting rapprochement remains to be seen.