Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may miss their last chance to see the Queen if they do not make the trip to Balmoral while in the UK, an expert warns.
The couple are due at an event in Manchester tomorrow and will jet out to Germany before returning later in the week.
But a commentator has claimed the Sussexes would find it "too embarrassing" to face the 96-year-old monarch after a string of comments about the family.
The pair are staying at their Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, a 15-minute walk from Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new home in Adelaide Cottage - but it's understood they have no plans to visit them either.
Harry and Meghan's first stop will be in Manchester tomorrow for the One Young World summit, an event which brings together young leaders from over 190 countries.
Then they will jet off to Germany for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year to Go event, before returning to the UK for the WellChild Awards on September 8.
Charlotte Griffiths, editor in chief of the Mail on Sunday, told Palace Confidential: "I think they've got themselves into a position where it's going too difficult to visit her.
"It's too embarrassing for them. There will be a hostile reception.
"Everyone will be on their guarded duty. I think they've got themselves into a position where this could be their last chance, I hope it's not, to visit the Queen in Balmoral and they might have lost it because of their own publicity."
It comes at a time of heighted difficulty for the couple and the royal establishment.
In a recent interview Meghan claimed that "just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy".
It follows a number of bombshell interviews, including the TV appearance with Oprah Winfrey in 2020, which saw them accuse royals of racism and ignoring pleas for help.
Harry has also accused his family of passing down “genetic pain and suffering”.
A source told The Sunday Times that the couple's actions have been hard to reconcile with the Queen's beliefs - with insiders suggesting it is taking its toll.
One told the newspaper: “It is hard to see how what they’re doing would equate to the values of the Queen, who has never encouraged people to discuss deeply personal family relationships in public.”
Another said about the Queen: “She doesn’t want to be on tenterhooks all the time, waiting to see what the next nuclear bomb will be — that will take its toll.”
A friend of Prince Charles echoed this, saying the heir to the throne cannot publicly defend himself against attacks.
They said: "He is completely bewildered by why his son, whom he loves deeply, feels this is the way to go about managing family relationships.”
Meghan told US website The Cut last month: "Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process.’ It doesn’t have to be the same for them as it was for me, but that’s his decision."
A source close to Charles said he would be saddened if Harry felt their relationship was lost, adding: "The Prince of Wales loves both his sons".
Meghan's allies have since tried to clarify and say the comments were in fact referring to her own father, Thomas Markle, who she has not spoken to since the royal wedding in 2018.
