Harry and Meghan will not join the royals for Christmas again this year

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not spend Christmas with Queen Elizabeth.

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This will be the third year running the young royals have not joined the celebrations at Sandringham; they have not done so since their last ‘royal’ Christmas in 2018.

The logistics of such a visit are so complex that the royal household would know by now if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were planning to spend Christmas at the Queen’s country estate at Sandringham.

They are likewise not expected to attend the yearly Christmas lunch for the Queen’s family that’s normally held at Buckingham Palace. (It is believed the lunch will be at Windsor Castle this year as the Queen is spending most of her time there due to a back sprain.)

It was announced a few days ago that Harry and Meghan had declined the Queen’s invitation for Christmas. This is despite her recent ill health and the fact this will be the Queen’s first Christmas without her beloved husband, Prince Phillip, who died in April.

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Harry has returned to England twice recently, once for his grandfather’s funeral, and once for the unveiling of a statue dedicated to his mother Diana, the Princess of Wales.

According to the UK Express , an online poll shows that the majority of people believe Harry and Meghan should stay away from Christmas with the Queen.

In a survey of 20,592 people, held from Nov. 17-22, fully 93% of voters said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should not return to the U.K. for Christmas, and many commented that the two were unwelcome.

Royal sources told the New York Post that although Prince Harry and Meghan were invited to join the rest of the family at Christmas, they most likely will not.

Said the source: “I think everyone understands there will be a frenzy when they both come back to the U.K., but they need to rip the (Band-Aid) off and get on with it.”