Harry and Meghan Are Coming Home, and the Christmas Question Everyone’s Asking

Tea, Titles & Tiaras with Emily Darlow

In the history of royal news weeks, this one will be remembered. After six years in California, Harry and Meghan are coming back. Archie and Lilibet are enrolled in British schools, the Highgrove reunion has happened, Harry’s African Parks role has ended and absolutely everyone wants to know where the Sussexes will spend Christmas. Meanwhile, the royals presented a picture of unity at Crathie Kirk and Earl Spencer announced what may be the publishing event of the autumn. Let’s get into it.

The Great Christmas Speculation

Now for the question nobody can answer, but everyone will cheerfully discuss until December: will Harry and Meghan spend Christmas at Sandringham?
They have celebrated there only twice, in 2017, shortly after their engagement, and in 2018, their first Christmas as a married couple. Since then, there have been holidays in Canada and California, with six consecutive Christmases far from the Norfolk estate.
This year is different. They will be living in England, Archie and Lilibet will be attending British schools, and Charles has now reportedly seen his grandchildren at Highgrove after four years apart.
Even so, Sandringham Christmas is not an open house. Attendance comes by personal invitation from the King, whether you are a working royal, a non-working royal or someone who once explained the family’s private arguments to Oprah.
Then there is William.
Relations between the brothers remain, at best, carefully managed. Whether William and Catherine would welcome a Christmas Day involving Harry and Meghan at the church walk and dinner table is a genuinely open question. Me thinks they would not.
Charles is said to want his family together. Unfortunately, what the King wants and what his family manages to deliver have not always been the same thing.
My guess is that Harry and Meghan will spend Christmas quietly somewhere in England, perhaps at Althorp or in their new home, with Doria Ragland visiting from California. They may see Charles privately, during a visit the palace neither confirms nor denies, but stay away from the Sandringham church walk.
Could I be wrong? Absolutely. They may appear on that famous path in December, smiling beside the Walese’s while every camera in Norfolk overheats.
We will know when we know, which probably means Christmas morning.

Harry shedding charities

Before getting on the plane, Harry has tidied up one significant loose end by stepping down from the board of African Parks.
The conservation organisation manages protected areas across 13 countries. Harry served as its president for six years before becoming a board director in 2023.
His departure comes amid continuing scrutiny after the charity acknowledged in 2025 that human rights abuses had occurred at Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo. The allegations included the rape, beating and torture of Indigenous people by park rangers. African Parks said it had strengthened its safeguarding processes.
Harry’s spokesperson said he was proud of his decade with the organisation, supported the continued strengthening of its board and remained committed to conservation in Africa.
Survival International, the Indigenous rights charity that led the campaign against African Parks, was far less diplomatic. Its director said Harry’s departure did not undo the organisation’s record of abuse and violence against Indigenous people.
It is also worth remembering that Harry resigned as patron of Sentebale, the charity he co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to support young people affected by HIV and AIDS. That departure followed a bitter boardroom dispute that reached the High Court.
Two major charitable roles have now ended in the months surrounding his return. It is a messy collection of baggage, even by royal standards, and it will follow him across the Channel.

The Crathie Kirk United Front

As the Sussex news was being absorbed, the rest of the royal family gathered at Crathie Kirk in Scotland for the traditional Balmoral Sunday service.
Charles and Camilla led the arrivals at the small granite church near Balmoral Castle, joined by William, Kate, their three children and members of the extended family.
Kate wore a relaxed blue-and-cream plaid blazer with jeans and loafers, looking more like a woman enjoying her summer holiday than someone reporting for royal duty. It was an unexpectedly casual choice and, perhaps for that reason, warmly received.
George’s appearance carried some extra significance. With the young prince reportedly beginning at Eton in September, it may have been one of his final Balmoral church services before boarding school begins changing the family routine.
With news of Harry and Meghan’s return everywhere, the pictures delivered a clear message without the palace needing to say a word: here is the family, here is its centre and here is business continuing as usual.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the Sussexes. It hardly needed to.

Mark Your Diary: Earl Spencer’s Book

Finally, the news that has this column practically vibrating with anticipation.
Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, brother of Princess Diana and the man responsible for that electrifying funeral eulogy in 1997, has announced a new book.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph on September 22, 2026, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death in August 2027.
The book will cover their childhood at Althorp, their parents’ painful divorce, Diana’s marriage to Charles, her rise to global fame, humanitarian work, treatment by the media and final days.
Earl Spencer said he was prompted to write it after being inundated with interview requests and becoming frustrated by accounts of his sister that had come to be accepted as fact. He wants to tell Diana’s story from her brother’s perspective, as he attempted to do at her funeral.
The publisher has promised revelations certain to attract considerable attention, which is publishing language for: clear your diary and put the kettle on.
I have ordered my copy. It will arrive on publication day and I intend to read it immediately before bringing you the most compelling parts here.
Earl Spencer does not speak frequently or carelessly, and history suggests he loves nothing more than to create controversy. A book from the sibling who knew Diana first and loved her longest could become one of the most significant accounts of her life yet published.
The reaction in royal circles is reportedly one of apprehension. One can only imagine.

Harry and Meghan are coming home, the royals have closed ranks at Balmoral, two of Harry’s major charity roles are behind him and Earl Spencer is preparing to reopen the Diana story. Somewhere between now and December 25, we may also discover whether the Sussexes will return to the Sandringham church path. Until next week, keep the tea piping hot and the tiaras polished. The next few months could be extraordinary.