It would certainly come as a surprise if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were to spend Christmas with the British royal family this year given their separation from the family and continued reports describing essentially a stand-off. But, a new report claims that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are open to accepting an invite to the traditional holiday festivities at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. If this were to happen, sources claim that it wouldn't be an affair for the entirely family, however. Soon after, sources said that if Harry and Markle were to spend Christmas with the royals, Harry's brother, Prince William, and sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, would not attend.
RELATE: How Prince William Is Secretly Using the Press to Sabotage Harry, New Book Claims.
According to the Daily Mail, on Nov. 18, the U.K.'s Times reported that Harry spoke to his father on his birthday, Nov. 14, and that their phone call could be a "turning point" in their relationship. Reportedly, Harry also showed his father a video of his two children, four-year-old Prince Archie and two-year-old Princess Lilibet, singing "Happy Birthday" to King Charles III.
A source told The Times, "I can't imagine the Sussexes would decline an invitation to spend time with His Majesty," but added, "As of yet, there have not been any invitations for the holidays." Harry and Markle last spent Christmas at Sandringham in 2018. The source also said that the the couple would be open to an invitation to the Scottish royal residence Balmoral in the summer.
Then, on Nov. 19, the Daily Mail reported that their sources questioned Harry and Markle's motives in supposedly wanting to spend Christmas with the royal family.
"It seems as if they are really doubling down on their reconciliation strategy," a source said. "It's so bizarre to have behaved so badly, demanded an apology and an admission of 'guilt'—to no avail, I might add—from the family and now suggest they'll just waltz back in and allow bygones to be bygones if only someone would be good enough invite them."
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This insider said that Charles and Queen Elizabeth had previously invited Markle and Harry to spend summers with them at Balmoral, but that they'd turned them down. "Which begs the question, why now?" the source said. "Is it something to do with the fact that some of their commercial deals, such as Spotify, have fallen around their ears and they have been subject to ridicule in the U.S. in shows such as South Park and Family Guy? Could it be that they have realized moaning about how awful being a member of the royal family is, isn't such a great strategy after all?"
Harry and Markle stepped down as senior members of the royal family in January 2020. In the time since, they've been critical of some of the actions of Harry's family, including saying they cut them off financially and that they lost their security during the time when they were transitioning to their new life. They spoke out in a Netflix documentary and in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, and Harry wrote about his family in his memoir, Spare. The couple now live in California with their children.
The Daily Mail reported that there was "much chatter in royal circles" about whether William and Middleton would spend Christmas with the royal family if Harry and Markle were there. Instead, they could spend the holiday with Middleton's family.
A person claiming to be a friend of William's told The Daily Beast, "The whole idea of them coming for Christmas was typically narcissistic and delusional. There is no way William or Kate would want them there after what he wrote in his book. Would you want to sit down for a slap-up lunch with someone who had basically called you an [expletive] in public? It would be a total humiliation. William and Kate are never, ever going to sign up for that, and Charles wouldn’t ask them to."
Meanwhile, ITV reported on the family's Christmas plans at Sandringham, and said that Harry and Markle will not be there.
The Daily Mail reports that Charles is open to making up with Harry and that perhaps instead of seeing his younger son at Christmas, he will see him for New Year's. "It would certainly have the advantage of killing two birds with one stone; extending an olive branch to one son without causing difficulty to the other," a source said. The Daily Mail has also reported that Charles is generally interested in spending more time with his grandchildren and has recently been spending more time with William and Middleton's children, 10-year-old Prince George, eight-year-old Princess Charlotte, and five-year-old Prince Louis.
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