Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan
No audience with the Dutch royal couple
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan at the Invictus Games Sydney 2018.
© imago/i Images
Harry and Meghan should not have an audience with the royal couple Willem-Alexander and Máxima when they arrive for the Invictus Games.
Prince Harry (37) and Duchess Meghan (40) will not receive “an audience with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands nor a room in the royal palace” during their visit to the Invictus Games in The Hague. Instead, they should reside in a hotel in The Hague. This reports “Mail Online”. Traditionally, the Dutch royal family has hosted stays for foreign royals, but a spokesman has confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has not been offered that.
Is there Dutch police protection for the couple?
The couple may need to be backed by their own team if they attend the event later this week, which will be Meghan’s first trip to Europe since 2020. However, it is conceivable that Harry and Meghan will receive “VIP status” from the Dutch police, as it is also said. The Dutch authorities explained according to The Sun also that Harry and Meghan’s bodyguards cannot be armed when traveling to the Netherlands.
Meghan’s attendance at the event for the first few days was confirmed by a spokesman for the couple on Monday.
It is not known if Harry will also visit the UK and see the Queen while attending the event in the Netherlands, which takes place from April 16-22. According to Harry, he stayed away from the memorial service for his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021), in London at the end of March for security reasons.
Special meaning for the couple
Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson (95) was already promoting the event in The Hague. In March, for example, he appeared in a social media clip showing the Duke of Sussex learning Dutch in a video call with attendees ahead of the event. He also reveals at the end that he’s wearing an all-orange outfit. “Thank you, see you soon in The Hague,” he says in it.
The Invictus Games also have a special meaning for the ducal couple. At the third edition in 2017 in Toronto, Canada, Prince Harry caused a surprise: it was his first official appearance with his future wife, the then US actress Meghan Markle. The 2018 Games then took place in Sydney. Both Prince Harry and Meghan were there again.
Meghan’s visit to The Hague is her first official European trip since moving back to her native California with Prince Harry in 2020. The two had previously resigned as senior members of the British royal family. Meghan and Harry got married in England in 2018. They are parents to Archie (2) and Lili (ten months).