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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Antony Thrower

Queen invites Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Balmoral over summer as olive branch

The Queen has invited US-based couple Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle to Balmoral this summer, in a move seen as an extended olive branch.

The Sussexes spent little time with the monarch during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this year, during which they finally introduced their daughter Lilibet to her great-grandmother.

Ahead of Her Majesty’s summer break in the Scottish Highlands, staff have been warned to expect the US-based couple as well as their two children.

A source told The Sun : “Staff have been told to expect the full list of royals including Harry, Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet.

The couple have been invited to stay in Balmoral over the summer (Getty Images)

"They are preparing for the Sussexes. Balmoral is the perfect place for them to spend a little bit of quality time with the Queen.”

The Duke and Duchess have met with the Queen on a handful of occasions so far in 2022 in a bid to rebuild bridges - although each meeting was fairly brief.

In April, Prince Harry visited his beloved grandmother in a secret visit as he travelled to the Netherlands for the Invictus Games.

The Queen met with the couple during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations (Getty Images)

He later told the BBC of his visit: “She had plenty of messages for Team UK which I've already passed on to most of them.

"So, it was great to see her and I'm sure she would love to be here if she could."

Then, during last month’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen met her namesake great-granddaughter for the first time.

As heartwarming as it would have been for all, aides kept the 15-minute meeting formal before they were sent on their way.

The Queen has extended an olive branch to the Sussexes (Getty Images)
The California-based family have been invited to Scotland (alexilubomirski/Instagram)

The couple flew back to their home in the US on the Sunday - an hour before senior royals appeared at the Platinum Jubilee pageant.

Earlier in the event they had attended the thanksgiving service in St Paul's Cathedral in London, to mark the monarch's 70th anniversary on the throne.

However, far from being front and centre, the couple were relegated to the second row behind the Wessexes and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

The Sussexes were banned from public events at the Platinum Jubilee (Getty Images)

The Sussexes had earlier been shunned from a Buckingham Palace balcony appearance, with the Queen only having working royals in the line-up for Trooping the Colour.

A royal expert revealed she believed Prince Harry was "absolutely furious" over his treatment during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Angela Levin, who penned the Duke of Sussex's biography, told The Sun : "The thing that really stood out for me on that day was Harry's anger – he wears his emotions on his face and he looked absolutely furious.

Prince Harry was said to have been furious to not been included in the celebrations (Getty Images)

"He could have been feeling lots of things, I don't know whether he had a wave of feeling at what he had given up.

"He is self-destructive and might regret what he has lost, maybe he was recalling bad memories and was wishing he hadn't come at all."

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