Prince Harry returns to London for week of Invictus and court hearing

The Duke of Sussex has returned to the UK to attend a week of engagements in London, his office announced, beginning on Tuesday and coinciding with the publication of a court judgment in his case against Associated Newspapers.

Prince Harry will begin the visit with events linked to the Invictus Games, the charity he founded for injured military veterans, and will take part in five days of activities across the capital and beyond.

The visit comes as a ruling is published on a lawsuit he brought alongside public figures including Sir Elton John, Sir Simon Hughes, Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, alleging unlawful information gathering by the publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.

Harry will attend events without his wife Meghan and their children, Archie and Lilibet, who are not in London because of unresolved security arrangements, his team said.

There was confusion at the start of the visit after Harry’s staff said an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace had been accepted; the Palace later said the prince had been informed on Saturday that he could not stay because he had not responded to the invitation in time.

During the week the prince will support UK charities and promote the Invictus Games, which will be held in Birmingham next year, and is scheduled to visit the city later in the week.

The lawsuit against Associated Newspapers accuses the publisher group of using unlawful methods to gather information for stories, allegations the publisher denies; the judgment may uphold some claims and reject others, a result that could see competing interpretations of victory.

Speculation has surrounded whether the visit might open the door to family meetings, including a possible encounter with King Charles III, and whether Archie and Lilibet might later travel to the UK to see their paternal family and visit Althorp, the Spencer family estate where Princess Diana is buried.

The prince is not expected to meet his brother, Prince William, during this visit, officials added.