Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not be returning to the UK this Christmas to spend the holidays with the Royal Family as the couple have not received an invitation for this year's festive gathering at Sandringham, a source has claimed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not spent Christmas at the Sandringham Estate since 2018, two years before they quit the Royal Family and moved to the UK.

But it is understood the Sussex couple will spend their holidays in Montecito, California, where they reside with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, People reports.

King Charles and the rest of the Firm traditionally head to Norfolk every Christmas, where they all attend the annual Christmas Day service in the morning and have together their Christmas meal later in the day.

However, a source said that Harry and Meghan were not among those invited to this year's holiday celebrations.

The duke has been estranged from his family since stepping down as a senior working royal, but this year, royal watchers were hoping a path to reconciliation would emerge following the King and Princess Kate's cancer diagnoses.

Harry came back to the UK a handful of times but only met with his father once back in February. Following the trip he declared to a US TV channel that he "loves" his family.

A source told People: "Nothing would give [Harry] more happiness than being able to rekindle his bond with his father.

"At the end of the day, you can’t undo bloodlines."

Harry and Meghan have only spent two Christmases with the royals, in 2017, the year before they were married, and 2018.

Meghan said in her and Prince Harry's documentary on Netflix, released in 2022, about her first Christmas with the royals: "I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham. Calling my mom, and she’s like, ‘How’s it going?’ And I said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s amazing.’ It’s just like a big family like I always wanted."

In 2018, the couple joined the royals in Sandringham once again, with the duchess being pregnant with Prince Archie at the time.

In 2019, the Montecito couple spent Christmas away in Canada, just weeks before they announced they'd be stepping down as senior working royals.