Sad reason Prince Harry refuses to bring Meghan Markle back to UK as his return announced

Despite announcing his plans to return to the UK later this month, Prince Harry has lifted the lid on the heartbreaking reason that wife Meghan Markle will be remaining in the States.

The news comes just four years after the couple sensationally stepped down from their Royal duties and moved overseas to build a private life for their children, where ex-Suits actress Meghan has remained ever since.

Prince Harry will be returning to the UK at the end of the month (Diego Cuevas/Getty Images)

News broke earlier this week that Harry, 40, would return to his home-country at the end of the month to attend a children's charity awards ceremony.

The father-of-two will appear at the 2024 WellChild Awards in London on 30 September.

Last month, Harry also returned to the UK to attend a memorial for a family member, where he was reported to have reunited with 'estranged' brother Prince William.

Harry is said to have endured a turbulent relationship with his family since he and Meghan first went public with their romance in 2016.

In several bombshell interviews since, Meghan claimed to have received racist remarks from an unnamed 'senior royal' about the skin colour of their son Archie.

The couple also have consistently claimed in the years since that the attitude of the British tabloids towards Meghan formed part of their reason for leaving.

Meghan and Harry have lived in the States since 2020 (Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty Images)

And speaking to ITV earlier this year, Harry attributed his case against The Mirror Group Newspapers - for phone hacking and their coverage of Meghan - when explaining why he'd be returning home alone at the end of the month.

The Prince claimed media frenzy gave him 'genuine concerns' about bringing his wife 'home'.

"All it takes is for one lone actor who reads this stuff to act on what they've read," he explained in a recent ITV documentary.

"And whether it's a knife or acid, these are things that are genuine concerns for me. It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country."

This isn't the first time that Harry has spoken openly about safety concerns for his wife, but also for himself and his children.

Also in the documentary, Harry revealed that his fight against tabloid newspapers had caused a 'rift' between him and his family.

In the feature length programme, host Rebecca Barry asked him: "To what extent do you think your determination to fight the tabloids destroyed your relationship with your family?"

Harry hit out at the tabloids in the emotional documentary (ITV)

Harry replied: "It is certainly a central piece to it.

"It is a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press.

"I have made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done.

"It would be nice if we did it as a family, I believe from a service standpoint and when you are in a public role these are the things we should be doing for the greater good.

"I am doing this for my reasons."

He added: "For me, the mission continues. But, it has... caused part of a rift."