Prince Harry, Meghan Markle arrive in the UK for the Queen’s Jubilee
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have arrived in the UK with their children and staffers ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have touched down in the UK today as they get set to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Sussexes were picked up by a Land Rover, sent by the Queen, after they secretly arrived by private jet and were greeted by three of the Queen’s protection officers, The Sun can reveal.
Bullet-proof cars took them — plus children Archie, three, and Lilibet, who is turning one on Saturday — from Farnborough Airport, Hants, to Frogmore Cottage, Windsor.
“The Queen believed it was the right thing to do,” an insider told The Sun.
Queen Elizabeth is expected to meet Lilibet for the first time in celebration of the little girl’s first birthday, which is June 4.
The couple said to be taking only a small security team with them, MailOnline reports, after being given “cast iron assurances” they’ll be assigned specially-trained police officers for their visit.
The trip comes just months after Prince Harry claimed he was “unable to return home” because security concerns made it “too dangerous”.
But security experts have predicted that the Sussexes may spend much of their trip holed up inside their former home, Frogmore Cottage, and could only leave to attend two Platinum Jubilee events because they are being denied VIP 24/7 armed protection from British police.
British officers will guard at Frogmore Cottage, where the family will be protected around the clock. But this protection will not extend to private events such as socialising with friends at restaurants and pubs or leaving the Queen’s Windsor Castle estate.
Prince Harry and Meghan are expected to attend the Service of Thanksgiving with the Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday morning (local time) - as well as the BBC’s Party at the Palace on Saturday night (local time).
The next few days will mark the first UK trip the parents have taken together since leaving Britain for a new life in the US.
It will also mark the first opportunity many of the royals have had to meet little Lilibet, who was born last June in California.
The Daily Mail reported that the Queen could attend a possible first birthday party for her great-granddaughter at Frogmore Cottage – which sits on the Windsor Castle estate – and is likely to miss her favourite sporting event, the Derby, on Saturday.
(The Sussexes unexpectedly renewed their lease on the Windsor residence.)
She is also said to have been told the Sussexes will “stick to the script” amid fears another “Sussex bomb” could drop.
It comes after The Telegraph in the UK reported that royal staff were doing all they could to prevent potential Jubilee drama taking place amid fears a similar Oprah interview-style bombshell could arise.
But the latest assurances have eased fears they could “hijack” the big event.
Meghan and Prince Harry’s flight comes after the Queen was caught in a mid-air drama yesterday when lightning forced her jet to abort its landing.
An electrical storm, rain and hail meant The Queen’s jet had to return to the skies seconds before it was due to touch down.
Her pilot made a second and successful attempt when the weather cleared and the Queen, who brushed off the landing drama, was pictured looking calm with one of her beloved corgis — believed to be Candy — in the back seat of a jeep en route to the castle.
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