Royal news live: Friend says Harry and Meghan are in ‘extraordinary situation’ as duke prepares to return to UK

The Duchess of Edinburgh has today begun an official visit to Tanzania.

Sophie, 59, will spend five days in the country for the first royal visit since 2018. The visit is intended to highlight the UK and Tanzania’s work in the fields of female empowerment, health, and agriculture.

It has been claimed that there is no “fix” to Prince Harry and Prince William’s strained relationship, despite the Prince of Wales’s decision to wish his younger brother a happy birthday yesterday.

An insider told the BBC: “I just can’t see a fix. It’s been a long time now and they haven’t found a peace. Their lives are now very separate. It’s sad.”

The two brothers last saw each other at their uncle Lord Robert Fellowes’s funeral this summer, but they are reported to have kept their distance at the ceremony.

Their relationship has grown increasingly strained since Harry stepped down as a working royal in 2020 and gave several tell-all interviews with further bombshell revelations made in his 2023 memoir Spare.

A royal expert has claimed that Prince Harry’s relationship with the royal family is “not defrosting” following their seemingly unexpected decision to wish him a happy birthday.

The Duke of Sussex, who celebrated the milestone yesterday, had the occasion marked by both King Charles and Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales on social media.

Royal expert Tom Bower told the MailOnline: “William and Kate’s surprise birthday wishes to Harry do not signal a step towards reconciliation. Rather it shows that the Waleses don’t want to be criticised as churlish.

“Being diplomatic costs them nothing and avoids criticism. The King understandably has congratulated his son but there’s no evidence of defrosting their relationship.”

Princess Anne will attend a prestigious horse event after a recent accident left her hospitalised.

The Princess Royal, 73, suffered a concussion and minor injuries as a result of the June incident on her estate, which is believed to have been caused by a kick from a horse.

But on 18 October, she will join the audience at the Spanish Riding School’s opening show at OVO Arena Wembley, marking their first tour of the UK in eight years, according to a press release.

The release added: “Arriving in the UK adorned with dazzling white deerskin saddles, gold bridles, luxurious velvet saddle pads, and iconic uniforms, eight riders and up to 26 horses will present performances on the tour, showcasing perfectly synchronised routines to the sound of classical Viennese music.”

Anne herself is an experienced horsewoman and previously rode the school’s horses alongside her mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 1969.

Following the royal family’s seemingly surprise decision to acknowledge Prince Harry’s 40th birthday, it has been claimed that King Charles “will never completely close the door” on his youngest son.

Harry, who turned 40 yesterday, has had an increasingly strained relationship with the firm since stepping down as a working royal in 2020.

Royal expert Rebecca English told the MailOnline: “While angry and determined not to engage with some of Harry’s more egregious accusations, Charles will never completely close the door on his youngest son.”

The Duke of Sussex last saw the monarch following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis in February.

The late Queen Elizabeth II is reported to have influenced the royal family’s seemingly unexpected decision to acknowledge Prince Harry’s 40th birthday.

According to several claims, the former monarch set a precedent for acknowledging the birthdays of non-working royals on birthdays ending with 0 on official channels.

The Duchess of Sussex was not cropped out of Prince Harry’s birthday message from the royal family, The Independent can reveal, despite reports to the contrary.

While Meghan, now 43, was included in the original image alongside the duke, the cropped version simultaneously appeared on Getty Images alongside the full photograph in 2018.

This means that the decision to zoom in on Harry and edit the picture was made long before the couple’s relationship with the royal family appeared to sour.

A bombshell report has claimed that the Duchess of Sussex has “reduced grown men to tears”.

The news comes amid the recent revelation that the Sussex’s chief of staff, Josh Kettler, left the role after three months on what was described as a “mutual” decision.

A source told The Hollywood Reporter: “Everyone’s terrified of Meghan. She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice.

“They’re both poor decision-makers, they change their minds frequently. Harry is a very, very charming person – no airs at all – but he’s very much an enabler. And she’s just terrible.”

Another source added to the publication: “She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders.

“I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”

Prince Harry is set to receive an estimated £8m from the late Queen Mother for his 40th birthday, and an insider has said there is “no doubt” he will accept the money.

The Duke of Sussex, who turned 40 yesterday, is said to have received a larger portion of the wealth set aside by the late royal because he was never destined to be king.

Former royal butler Grant Harrold told The New York Post: “I’ve no doubt that Harry will accept it... It’s money that’s owed to him, money that’s coming to him.

“I don’t think he will decline the money – it’s inheritance, so it’s his right.”

The Queen Mother passed away in 2002 at the age of 101. She is reported to have placed an estimated £71m in a trust fund for her grandchildren, to be distributed at milestone birthdays.

The Duchess of Sussex was cropped out of the picture used by the Royal Family to wish Prince Harry a happy 40th birthday yesterday (15 September).

The unexpected greeting, shared by King Charles and Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales, marked the first public acknowledgement of the Duke of Sussex’s birthday since 2021.

“Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today!” the post read alongside a picture of Harry taken at a Dublin engagement in 2018, when he was still a working royal.

The original picture also featured his wife Meghan Markle, who he married that year, but she was cropped out for the birthday greeting.