Prince Harry and Meghan Markle won't bring their children on their upcoming Australia trip in a bid to build momentum for their much-anticipated return to the UK, according to a royal expert. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to travel to Australia in mid-April for a number of "private, business and philanthropic engagements". The couple reportedly decided against bringing their children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, to avoid disrupting their school terms.

But royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams suggested they might have another reason for keeping their children temporarily out of the spotlight. Mr Fitzwilliams said Harry and Meghan could be "saving" Archie and Lilibet for an unconfirmed trip to the UK this summer, pending the renewal of the Duke's automatic police protection.

It would mark the family's first collective journey back across the pond since 2022 and could coincide with the Invictus Games one-year countdown event in July.

While Harry is expected to attend the promotional event in Birmingham, there has been no suggestion that either Meghan or the children will join him.

Mr Fitzwilliams told the Express: "My feeling is that they are 'saving' their children to bring to the UK once Harry gets his automatic police protection.

"I expect Meghan to accompany him in the summer, and I imagine they will bring the children in the hopes of blunting at least some of the criticism she would otherwise draw from the press and the public."

He added: "All of this is very carefully calculated public relations. They don't have any particularly exciting prospects on the horizon at the moment, with Netflix ending its partnership with Meghan's brand in a rather drastic jettison.

"It's not clear where they're going to go from here, but assuming Harry gets security clearance, bringing the children to the UK makes sense. They'll undoubtedly try to mitigate the criticism of Meghan by using Archie and Lili."

Harry has repeatedly said he will only feel safe bringing his family back to Britain if his fight for taxpayer-funded armed protection is successful.

The Home Office ordered a full threat assessment into his circumstances last year, with the ruling on whether the 24/7 security will be restored yet to be announced.