How Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are Spending Christmas While Royals Gather in Sandringham

NEED TO KNOW

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are spending Christmas in California, where they relocated in 2020 after stepping back from their royal roles

• Meanwhile, the royal family gathered for their annual Christmas Day church outing

• A recent reunion between Prince Harry and King Charles prompted speculation that they may spend the holidays together

While King Charles and members of the British royal family make their annual Christmas Day church outing, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are spending the holiday over 5,000 miles away in California.

Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, are spending Christmas with their two children — Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4 — at home in Montecito, the Santa Barbara neighborhood where they moved in 2020 after stepping back as working members of the royal family.

Despite Prince Harry having a reunion with his father in September — heading inside the King’s London residence, Clarence House, for a little under an hour during his trip to the U.K. — there remains a rift between him and the royals.

“It’s a massive step in the right direction,” the late Queen Elizabeth’s former spokeswoman Ailsa Anderson told PEOPLE at the time. “It’s a building of trust.”

David Rose / POOL / AFP/Getty

King Charles and Prince Harry at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022

Ahead of that meeting, those close to Harry had told PEOPLE that King Charles was not taking his calls or responding to messages. Harry has expressed his desire to begin steps towards a rapprochement, telling BBC News in May that he would love a “reconciliation.” He also recognized that some of his actions in recent years, including writing his memoir Spare, made it difficult for family members to talk to him.

His recent reunion with the King, 77, prompted speculation about whether the Duke of Sussex might spend Christmas with the royal family. However, Harry has said his ongoing security concerns in the U.K. make him reluctant to bring Meghan and their children overseas without official protection.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent Christmas with the royal family in 2017, shortly after they announced their engagement, and in 2018, while Meghan was pregnant with Archie.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Christmas with the royals in 2017

Meghan recently shared how her family spends the most festive time of the year in With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration on Netflix, which was filmed last holiday season and premiered on Dec. 3. In addition to embracing the British tradition of Christmas crackers, she also cooked Christmas Eve gumbo — a recipe from her mother, Doria Ragland.

Meghan also filled personalized Advent calendars for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet with handwritten notes like “I love you because you’re so kind” and “I love you because you’re so brave.”

“Hopefully we’ll have these for quite a long time — a tradition has to have a beginning,” she said.

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Prince Harry recently had a pre-holiday trip to Aspen, where he went skiing with friend Nacho Figueras and competed in a snow polo tournament.

Read the original article on People