Prince Harry is facing the "ultimate test and dilemma" on whether he should return to the UK to visit, a royal author has claimed.
Since Harry and wife Meghan Markle quit as senior royals and started a new life in California in 2020, the prince has only returned to Britain twice.
Both of those times he came alone with Meghan staying at home with son Archie, who also hasn't returned to the UK since moving to the US.
Meanwhile, the couple's eight-month-old daughter Lilibet, who was born in California, has never been to Britain - nor has she met her great-grandmother the Queen or grandfather Prince Charles.
Currently, Harry is in the middle of a legal challenge against the Home Office to be allowed police protection for him and his family when he is in the UK, which he says he is willing to pay for.
And with a memorial for his late grandfather Prince Philip later this month and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, royal author Tom Bower believes this has presented Harry with the "ultimate test".
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Mr Bower, who is currently writing a biography of Meghan, told Closer magazine : "The next few months will be the ultimate test for Harry, the ultimate dilemma. He insists he adores his grandmother, so will he come back to support her at Prince Philip’s memorial service, and will he come back to support her and celebrate her reign in the Platinum Jubilee? These are milestone moments and, sadly, time is running out.
"If he doesn’t come back, it’s a clear statement of where lies his loyalty and his own interest. He’s had many opportunities to return home and spend time with his family – and hasn’t – but this really will show where his and Meghan’s mindsets are.
"And if they don’t come back soon, and Lilibet doesn’t meet the Queen and Harry doesn’t celebrate her life and reign with her, it could be something he comes to regret forever."
Although Harry and Meghan's lives now firmly seem to be in California, they still have some charity interests in the UK.
Just yesterday, it was announced that the couple's Archewell Foundation is awarding a grant to UK-based charity Smart Works, which Meghan is still a patron of.
Smart Works, which helps women get back to work is among four charities that Archewell is supporting in order to mark Women's History Month.
Meghan became patron of Smart Works in 2019 before she and Harry quit as senior working royals.
When they stepped down from the Firm in early 2020, the pair had to relinquish some of their patronages.
Although one of the two private charity patronages that Meghan has kept is Smart Works and another with animal charity Mayhew.
