Prince Harry and Royal Family facing 'catch-22' ahead of crunch UK visit

Prince Harry and the Royal Family are facing a 'Catch-22' situation ahead of his hotly-anticipated return to the UK, royal experts have claimed.

The controversial royal is set to make a solo trip to his homeland in September, where he is believed to want to build bridges with his estranged family.

But A Right Royal Podcast by HELLO! was looking even further ahead to the 2027 Invictus Games, where both of the cities bidding to host the event could have posed a problem for founder Prince Harry.

Eventually Birmingham won the rights to host them, returning the games to the UK for the first time since the inaugural event was hosted in London in 2014.

Podcast co-host Emily Nash explained why Harry was in a difficult position: "Washington DC was up against Birmingham to host the 2027 games and it was always going to be an interesting choice. On the one hand it meant coming back to the UK, fantastic for veterans here and for the country.

"But the question mark was how does that leave the royals in relation to it. Naturally, the King's head of the Armed Forces. You'd hope he'd want to support it.

"There's this difficult situation the family finds itself in with Harry. On the other hand, had it gone to Washington DC and we were in a Trump presidency that would also have been tricky for Prince Harry. They famously don't get on very well with each other.

"The big question mark is will there be any royal involvement?"

Podcast co-host Emmy Griffiths added: "For me it's what the media will be saying. If no royals lend there support to it, will that take over the whole narrative?"

The late Queen's former press secretary Ailsa Anderson chimed in and said: "If another member of the Royal Family turns up, it's not going to be about the Invictus Games.

"It's going to be about the body language with Harry and whoever it is, there's going to be speculation, and then it's not about the injured servicemen and women."

Emily described it as a 'Catch-22' situation, adding: "We've seen that anything can happen in a short space of time, in the last six months we've seen that play out."

Prince Harry is reportedly organising a solo trip to the UK in September to visit family and friends. The ex-royal turns 40 on September 15.

He is apparently keen to "reconnect" with relatives, specifically his dad King Charles and aunt Princess Anne. But he won't be joined by wife Meghan Markle, who is set to stay Stateside with their two kids.

An insider told Closer: "Harry is going to have to return to the UK solo as it makes sense for him to take a longer trip. He's convinced that if he spends a longer period of time there, he'll have a better chance to reconnect with his family.

"Harry is very anxious to go home and see his dad, catch up with his friends for his birthday in September and also pay a visit to his aunt, Princess Anne."

According to the insider while Meghan is "respectful" of Harry's need to spend time with his family, she has "too much on her plate" to join the visit. She is also "fearful of being heckled".