Prince Harry Will Attend Prince Philip's Funeral Sans Wife Meghan Markle, Buckingham Palace Says

Prince Harry will return to the U.K. for Prince Philip's funeral sans his wife Meghan Markle, who is heavily pregnant.

The Duke of Sussex is determined to fly back to his home country following the death of his grandfather, who passed away Friday at Windsor Castle at age 99. Buckingham Palace has now confirmed that Prince Harry will be attending the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral, but he will return home alone as his wife and their 1-year-old son, Archie, won't be able to join him on the trip, Deadline reported.

Markle is forced to skip the service for medical reasons, having been advised against traveling.

"The Duke of Sussex is planning to attend. The Duchess of Sussex has been advised by her physician not to travel. So the duke will be attending," Deadline quoted a Buckingham Palace spokesperson as saying at a Saturday briefing.

The service will be held at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on April 17. However, it will be closed to the public in accordance with the pandemic guidelines.

Markle is pregnant with their second child, whom they confirmed is a girl during their March interview with Oprah Winfrey. In November 2020, she revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage earlier that year.

Prior to Buckingham Palace's announcement, royal correspondent Omid Scobie, co-author of "Finding Freedom," also predicted that Prince Harry "will do everything" he can to return to England for the funeral and that Markle is unlikely to join him due to her pregnancy.

"No doubt his team will be in close communication with Palace officials to find out when that is and if there is going to be enough time for him to arrive here and quarantine. But I imagine he is going to be doing everything he can to be here and pay his respects to his grandfather," Scobie told Entertainment Tonight.

"Meghan is heavily pregnant at the moment," he continued. "That makes it very difficult for her to be traveling. Of course with little Archie, an event like this perhaps would not be appropriate. I would imagine that there would be a very likely scenario that happens that Harry is over here representing the entire Sussex family."

Prince Harry previously spoke about his close relationship with his grandfather. During his recent appearance on "The Late Late Show With James Corden," the duke revealed that he regularly talked to the Queen and Prince Philip over Zoom even after he and Markle moved to the U.S.

"They’ve seen Archie running around," Prince Harry said.

"My grandfather, instead of, like, pressing ‘leave meeting’, he just goes doof," he continued, imitating someone slamming down the lid of a laptop. "I’m like, OK, bye!"