Why Meghan Markle was set to fly back to the UK this week

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are currently settling into their new life in Los Angeles with one-year-old Archie, but as they stepped back from royal duties in March, it was understood that the couple would be back in the UK regularly. Although it was never confirmed, it seems likely that Prince Harry and Meghan would have flown back to the UK this week for Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi‘s wedding, which was scheduled to take place on 29 May.

WATCH: Harry, Meghan, William and Kate arrive at Eugenie’s wedding

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The bride and groom-to-be have had to postpone their nuptials at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace because of the coronavirus pandemic. Buckingham Palace is yet to announce the new date for the forthcoming royal wedding.

Prince Harry has always been close to his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, since childhood. He and Meghan attended Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s big day at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in October 2018, days before heading off on their first major royal tour. Beatrice and Eugenie were also guests at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May that same year.

MORE: Princess Beatrice’s fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi: everything you need to know

Harry and Meghan at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s wedding

Archie is likely to have flown back to the UK with his parents, although having only just turned one earlier in May, he might have been too young to have had a starring role in the bridal party. His cousin, Prince Louis, is also still to make his debut as a pageboy, whereas Louis’ older siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, have had plenty of practice already at the weddings of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews, Harry and Meghan, Eugenie and Jack, as well as Kate’s close friend, Sophie Carter.

The Sussexes marked their second wedding anniversary on 19 May with a special date night meal, consisting of Mexican food and margaritas. Harry and Meghan also reportedly exchanged cotton-based gifts per tradition in their current home – a £15 million mansion, owned by actor Tyler Perry in the Beverly Ridge Estate of LA.