Archie and Lilibet’s UK Return Brings Them Closer to Their Royal Cousins — But Prince William ‘Does Not Know Them’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return to Britain has brought Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet physically closer to the Royal Family than they have been for much of their childhood.

Yet one relationship may be particularly difficult to rebuild.

Despite being their uncle, Prince William is believed to have had remarkably little opportunity to get to know Harry’s children. With the relationship between the brothers reportedly at an all-time low, the Sussexes’ move back to Britain has now placed that painful family distance under renewed scrutiny.

Royal expert Marlene Koenig offered a particularly stark assessment of the situation.

“He does not know them,” she said of William’s relationship with Archie and Lilibet.

Archie and Lilibet have grown up far from the Royal Family

Harry and Meghan arrived in Britain with their children last week as the family began a new chapter in the UK.

The location of their new home has not been disclosed.

King Charles and William were reportedly told about the decision only days before news of the move became public.

For the King, the return could offer something he has had relatively little of in recent years: regular opportunities to spend time with Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.

Charles is reportedly pleased by the prospect of having his son and grandchildren back in Britain.

But William’s estrangement from Harry makes his own relationship with the children considerably more complicated.

William was there for one important moment in Archie’s early life

Speaking to the Daily Express, Koenig pointed out that William and Catherine did have some involvement in Archie’s earliest months.

They attended his baptism following his birth in 2019.

But the circumstances surrounding the Sussex family changed dramatically soon afterwards.

“Within months, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were living in California, so it would have been impossible for William to establish a relationship with Harry’s children,” Koenig said.

Harry and Meghan stepped away from their positions as senior working royals before establishing their family life in North America.

As the physical distance between the households increased, so did the personal divide between Harry and William.

Catherine once hoped to meet baby Lilibet

Lilibet’s arrival in California in 2021 provided another revealing glimpse of how separated the two sides of the family had become.

After the birth, Catherine was asked publicly about her new niece.

“We haven’t met her yet,” she replied. “I hope that will be soon.”

It remains unclear how much time, if any, William and Catherine have subsequently spent with Lilibet.

The same uncertainty surrounds the relationship between Lilibet and her cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

There has been no public confirmation of when the children last met.

The royal cousins were once pictured together

Before Harry and Meghan left Britain, there had at least been opportunities for Archie to be around William’s children.

Only weeks after Archie was born, the families attended the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day in 2019.

George, Charlotte and Louis were there alongside their young cousin.

At the time, few could have predicted just how separate their lives would soon become.

George is now 13, Charlotte 11 and Louis eight, while Archie is seven.

Lilibet, now five, was born after the Sussexes had moved to California, and it remains unknown whether she has ever met all three of the Wales children.

Harry and William’s feud has shaped their children’s relationships

The cousins’ separation is one of the quieter consequences of the much more public breakdown between Harry and William.

The brothers, once seen together at virtually every major stage of their lives, are reportedly no longer on speaking terms.

Their differences intensified following Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal duties and the series of public revelations that followed.

With the adults increasingly divided and living on opposite sides of the Atlantic, there was little opportunity for their children to develop independent relationships.

Archie and Lilibet consequently spent their formative years in California, while George, Charlotte and Louis remained in Britain.

Now, for the first time in years, geography is no longer such a formidable barrier.

King Charles could benefit most from the move

The return may have particularly important consequences for King Charles.

The monarch is said to welcome the opportunity to see more of Archie and Lilibet after years in which visits were necessarily limited by the family’s life in America.

Living in the same country could make those meetings significantly easier.

But the situation with William is different.

No meeting between the Prince of Wales and the Sussex children has been publicly announced following their return, and there is no suggestion that the brothers have resolved their differences.

That leaves Archie and Lilibet in an unusual position.

They may now live close enough to their uncle and cousins for regular contact, but the dispute between their fathers remains firmly in the way.

Five cousins now have an unexpected opportunity

For years, George, Charlotte and Louis have grown up largely separately from Archie and Lilibet.

Their circumstances have also been very different.

William’s children have been raised within the working Royal Family, with George in particular gradually being introduced to the responsibilities that come with being second in line to the throne.

Harry’s children have experienced a much more private upbringing in California.

The Sussexes’ return changes that equation.

For the first time since Archie was a baby, the five cousins could potentially have the opportunity to see each other with some regularity.

Nothing has been confirmed, however, and proximity alone cannot repair years of separation.

The children could become the most personal test of the royal rift

Harry and William’s dispute has usually been discussed in terms of interviews, memoirs, accusations and royal responsibilities.

Their children add a very different dimension.

Whatever disagreements exist between the brothers, Archie and Lilibet had no role in creating them.

Neither did George, Charlotte or Louis.

Yet the five children have grown up largely apart as an indirect consequence of a feud between the adults around them.

Harry’s return to Britain therefore creates more than another opportunity for reconciliation with Charles or William.

It creates the possibility that Archie and Lilibet could finally build relationships with relatives they have barely known.

Whether that happens remains uncertain.

But Koenig’s five-word assessment — “he does not know them” — captures just how much distance has accumulated.

Now that Archie and Lilibet are back in Britain, the miles separating the two families have disappeared.

The harder question is whether the family divide will begin to disappear with them.