Baby Archie's first trip to Balmoral will be tainted with heartbreak

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, leave the chapel after the christening of Prince Louis at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, London. Picture: Reuters

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, leave the chapel after the christening of Prince Louis at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, London. Picture: Reuters

Published Aug 14, 2019

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Prince Harry and older brother William are expected to join the queen and Prince Philip at Balmoral in Scotland later this month for their annual summer stay. 

Both princes will be joined by their families, something Queen Elizabeth is very much looking forward to. According to British tabloid,  The Express, this will be baby Archie's first visit to the estate.

Little Archie Mountbatten-Windsor will be joined by his cousins George, Charlotte and Louis. But chances are they won't get much play time with the little tyke. During his last public appearance at a charity polo match in July, he slept through most of the festivities.

Cosmopolitan also reported that tensions between Meghan and Kate have far from thawed. Apparently the Cambridges are delaying their visit to avoid overlapping with the Sussexes.

But for William and Harry, the visit will be a bittersweet one - Balmoral holds sad memories for the brothers who were staying there when they learned about their mother's tragic death in 1997. 

In his 2011 book "William and Catherine", royal biographer Andrew Morton wrote that William had spoken to his mother on the phone the night before she was due to return to the UK. In a tragic twist of fate, she never returned. 

Morton said: “In the morning, as William began to absorb the full import of what had occurred, he said that he thought something awful had happened as he had kept waking up during the night.”

The two young princes, who were 15 and 12 at the time, continued to stay at Balmoral as they grieved for their mother. The decision would later backfire for the queen after the British public accused her of being cold and distant.

WATCH: The queen is officially welcomed by guard of honour to Balmoral Castle

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