Harry and Meghan’s UK Return Could Bring Archie and Lilibet Into a Much Bigger Spencer Family Circle

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return to Britain could reshape more than their relationship with the Royal Family. After six years based primarily in the United States, the Sussexes may now find themselves spending considerably more time with Princess Diana’s side of the family — potentially giving Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet a much larger network of relatives close to home.

Harry’s relationship with Prince William remains strained, but his ties to the Spencers have endured. Diana’s siblings — Earl Spencer, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes — have continued to feature at important moments in Harry’s life, and the Sussexes’ recent stay at Althorp has again highlighted that connection. Recent reports confirm Harry and Meghan visited Earl Spencer at Althorp during their latest UK trip.

With Harry and Meghan expected to establish a private, non-royal residence in Britain, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, could also have greater opportunities to know the sprawling Spencer family.

The Spencer connection could become increasingly important

Harry’s maternal family has long occupied a distinctive place in his life.

Princess Diana grew up with her sisters Sarah and Jane and younger brother Charles, the current Earl Spencer. The family moved to Althorp in 1975, and Diana was later laid to rest on an island within the estate following her death in 1997.

For Harry, Althorp is therefore far more than another aristocratic country estate. It represents a direct connection to his mother and the family into which she was born.

That bond was visible again last month when Earl Spencer hosted Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet during their visit to Britain.

Although speculation emerged that Harry and Meghan could eventually make Althorp their British base, they are instead expected to live in a private residence elsewhere. Reports indicate that the Sussexes will retain their homes in California and Portugal while establishing a home in Britain.

Yet choosing not to live at Althorp does not necessarily diminish the significance of Harry’s maternal relatives.

With the family spending more time in Britain, the Spencers could become an increasingly important part of Archie and Lilibet’s lives.

Lady Sarah McCorquodale has remained close to Diana’s sons

Lady Sarah McCorquodale, 71, is the eldest of the Spencer siblings.

Before Diana’s relationship with the then Prince Charles began, Sarah herself briefly dated him. Charles first encountered Diana through the Spencer family during this period.

Sarah eventually married Neil McCorquodale in 1980 and they had three children: Emily, George and Celia.

Her connection with Diana remained close. Following Diana’s death in Paris in 1997, Sarah accompanied Charles to France as arrangements were made to bring her sister’s body back to Britain.

In the years since, Sarah and Lady Jane have maintained relationships with both William and Harry rather than publicly taking sides in the brothers’ dispute.

Sarah has also appeared at significant moments in Harry’s adult life, including family occasions connected to his children and the 2021 unveiling of Diana’s statue at Kensington Palace.

She was also seen supporting Harry at the Invictus Games anniversary service at St Paul’s Cathedral in May 2024.

Emily, George and Celia give Harry another generation of close relatives

Lady Sarah’s three children are Harry’s first cousins and have shared family connections with him stretching back decades.

Emily McCorquodale, 43, attended the same school as Diana, West Heath in Kent. At 19, while studying at Leeds Metropolitan University, she was diagnosed with plasmacytoma, a rare form of cancer affecting her spine, before later being given the all-clear.

She subsequently married James Hutt. Harry, William and Catherine attended their Lincolnshire wedding in 2012. Emily and James have two children, Isabella and Henry.

Her brother George McCorquodale, 41, was born only months before Harry and is believed to have shared a particularly friendly relationship with his royal cousin.

Harry attended George’s stag celebrations and was later a guest at his wedding to Bianca Moore in South Africa. George and Bianca now have three children: Sybil, Molly and Joseph.

Youngest sibling Celia McCorquodale, 37, married George Woodhouse in Lincolnshire in 2018, shortly after Harry and Meghan’s own wedding.

Celia wore the Spencer tiara — the famous family heirloom Diana wore when she married Prince Charles in 1981.

Harry and Meghan attended the ceremony together, while Celia and her husband had also been guests at the Sussex wedding. Celia and George have two children, Walter and Winifred.

That younger generation could become especially relevant to Archie and Lilibet as the Sussex children establish a life in Britain.

Lady Jane Fellowes has played a particularly meaningful role in Harry’s life

Diana’s other older sister, Lady Jane Fellowes, 69, has similarly maintained a close connection with her nephews.

Jane married Robert Fellowes at 21. He subsequently became private secretary to Queen Elizabeth II and was later created Baron Fellowes.

The couple had three children — Laura, Alexander and Eleanor — and later became grandparents.

Jane occupied an especially poignant position in Diana’s story, delivering a reading at her sister’s funeral in Westminster Abbey in September 1997.

More than two decades later, Harry gave his aunt another prominent family role when she delivered a reading from the Song of Solomon during his wedding to Meghan at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in 2018.

Before the wedding, Harry made sure Meghan had met both of Diana’s sisters.

During the couple’s engagement interview, Meghan spoke about how meaningful those meetings had been, explaining that knowing Sarah and Jane allowed her to understand another part of Diana through the people closest to her.

Diana’s sisters were there for Archie and Lilibet

That relationship continued after Harry and Meghan became parents.

Diana’s sisters were included in significant family occasions involving the Sussex children. Lady Sarah and Lady Jane were present for Archie’s christening at Windsor in 2019, and reports also placed Diana’s sisters at Lilibet’s christening in California in 2023.

Their presence was particularly noteworthy because Lilibet’s California christening did not include senior members of the Royal Family.

Sarah, Jane and Charles Spencer have therefore provided Harry with a continuing link to Diana during some of the most important moments of his adult life.

Laura Fellowes also connects the Spencers directly to William’s family

The Spencer family connections do not fall neatly along the lines of the William-Harry dispute.

Lady Jane’s eldest daughter, Laura Fellowes, 46, has longstanding links with the Prince of Wales.

Laura and William knew each other from childhood and famously appeared together as bridesmaid and pageboy at Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s 1986 wedding.

Laura later married Nicholas Pettman in Norfolk in 2009, with William and Catherine among the guests.

Perhaps most significantly, Laura is one of Princess Charlotte’s godmothers.

She and Nicholas have three children.

The connection demonstrates how Diana’s extended family continues to overlap with both branches of her sons’ families despite William and Harry’s difficult relationship.

Alexander and Eleanor Fellowes complete another branch of Harry’s maternal family

Lady Jane’s son Alexander Fellowes, 43, known to friends as “Beetle,” works in investment banking.

He married Alexandra Finlay in 2009 at the Palace of Westminster, with Harry among the guests, followed by a reception at Claridge’s.

The couple have two children, Robert and Rose.

Jane’s youngest child, Eleanor Fellowes, 41, studied at Oxford University before training as a probation officer.

She has written for the London Review of Books, lectured for the Howard League for Penal Reform and worked as an advocate supporting women affected by domestic violence.

Eleanor attended Diana’s funeral in 1997 and was also among the guests at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.

Harry quietly turned to Althorp during another difficult family moment

The strength of Harry’s Spencer connection became particularly apparent following the death of Lord Fellowes in 2024.

Harry quietly returned to Britain for his uncle’s funeral, where he and William were both present despite their estrangement.

During that visit, Harry reportedly chose to stay at Althorp rather than with members of the Royal Family.

It was another indication that when Harry returns to Britain, Diana’s family can provide a separate support network outside the House of Windsor.

Archie and Lilibet could now discover another side of their family

Harry and Meghan’s return to Britain is not expected to restore them to working royal life. Their status remains unchanged, and reports indicate they will live privately rather than occupy an official royal residence.

But geographically, the move changes a great deal.

Archie and Lilibet will no longer be separated from their British relatives by thousands of miles. Alongside the possibility of spending more time with King Charles and other members of the Royal Family, they could become considerably more familiar with the family of the grandmother they never had the opportunity to meet.

And that family is extensive.

Between the descendants of Lady Sarah and Lady Jane, the Sussex children have numerous younger Spencer relatives with whom they could potentially spend time.

Earl Spencer himself has seven children from his previous marriages, further expanding Harry’s maternal family network.

Whether those relationships ultimately become close remains a private family matter. But Harry’s recent stay at Althorp and his longstanding relationship with Diana’s siblings suggest that the Spencer connection could become an important part of the Sussexes’ new British chapter.

For Archie and Lilibet in particular, returning to Britain may therefore mean much more than moving closer to the monarchy.

It could finally give them the opportunity to grow up knowing another half of their father’s family — the Spencers, and the relatives who connect them directly to Princess Diana.