Prince Harry is “not even in touch” with his royal cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, HELLO! can exclusively reveal.
It was reported on Wednesday evening that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning a surprise return to Britain later this month with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Six years after Megxit, and with Harry not on speaking terms with his older brother, Prince William, it might be expected that their closest allies upon their UK return would be the York sisters, with whom they were once very close.
However, a source told HELLO! on Thursday that the Duke has “very few friends left from before” and his bond with his cousins is not as strong as it once was.
The insider told us: “Harry and Meghan are not so close to Beatrice and Eugenie anymore, and Harry did not see Eugenie over the summer in Portugal.
“Harry has very few friends left from before. They’re going to have to make some serious social inroads and gatherings to get back in the fold.”
Speaking of the daughters of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, they added: “Beatrice and Eugenie are not even in touch – and Eugenie was once so close to him.”
Prince Harry and Meghan’s close friendship with Eugenie
In the past, Princess Eugenie, 36, was known to be especially close to Harry and was one of the first royal relatives to be told about his romance with Meghan.
She was one of the first family members to visit Harry and Meghan in California and was seen spending time with them during their UK visits.
Mother-of-three Eugenie was also the only royal to feature in their 2022 Netflix documentary, and has a property in Portugal, where the Sussexes also have a holiday home.
© NetflixHowever, sources have told HELLO! they did not meet up when Harry and Meghan visited the country in July, just weeks before Eugenie welcomed her third child, Adelaide Brooksbank.
The source added: “They didn’t even see each other when they were over in Portugal recently, probably because Eugenie was so heavily pregnant, but it’s a real difference to how close they used to be, so close that they let Eugenie and Jack stay in Frogmore cottage, remember when they needed a place to stay. They’re not that close anymore.”
In 2023, Eugenie and her sister Beatrice were spotted exiting The Princess Royal Pub in Notting Hill after lunching with Piers Morgan, prompting speculation of a growing distance between the sisters and Harry.
Who will be in Harry and Meghan’s inner circle when they return to the UK?
With Beatrice and Eugenie said not to be as close to Harry as they once were, who will be there for Prince Harry and Meghan when they come back to the UK?
The Sussexes have spent the past six years in Montecito, California, 5,000 miles away from their friends and family back in England.
But they still have close ties to their UK circles, and Harry especially has several long-standing friendships from his childhood.
© Getty ImagesThe Duke of Westminster is a lifelong friend of both Harry and Prince William, although the Duke of Sussex did not attend his wedding to Olivia Henson in 2024.
Charles and Thomas van Straubenzee are also childhood friends of the brothers, and were ushers at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.
Guy Pelly, who was spotted alongside King Charles on his state visit to the US in May, is a close friend from the Duke’s “party prince” days before he married Meghan, and reportedly visited the couple after their US move in 2020.
Mark Dyer, a former equerry to King Charles and close friend of Harry, will also likely welcome the Sussexes with open arms. Harry is godfather to Mark’s son, Jasper, and the former Welsh Guards officer has often been dubbed the royal’s “second dad”.
Meghan also has several friends in the UK, including designer Misha Nonoo (who is also friends with Eugenie) and PR guru Isabel May.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s plans to return to the UK
Prince Harry and Meghan will not be returning as working royals and their status will remain the same, with no “half in, half out” option.
© Getty ImagesIt’s understood they will live in a non-royal residence outside of London and have already enrolled Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, in British schools.
King Charles was first made aware of the move on Sunday and is looking forward to seeing more of the family, who initially moved to the US in 2020.
The monarch reunited with the Sussexes at Highgrove in Gloucestershire last month – the first time he’d seen his grandchildren on the Sussex side in four years.
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