Meghan Markle 'planning party' for Prince Harry as duke gets ready to celebrate milestone

The duke has been locked in a royal rift with the Firm for several years, ever since he and Meghan stepped back from their working roles in 2020.

According to royal insiders, Prince Harry will be ringing in his 40th birthday surrounded by friends and family.

Sources told Page Six that the Duke of Sussex is planning to celebrate his big day with a party organised by Meghan.

The festivities will be held in Montecito, California, where the Sussexes live with their two children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.

Harry is then set to have a weekend getaway with his close friends in the mountains.

A source told Us Weekly that Harry “has a small [group] of close friends,” in the US and likes to keep his circle tight for “understandable reasons”.

Harry has previously spoken about Santa Barbara in the US being "his home".

In April, the father-of-two named the US as his official residence.

Harry listed the US as his "New Country/State Usually Resident," on documents filed with Companies House, a Government-run registry of companies in the UK.

The registration, filed under Harry's full name, "Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex", was updated for Travalyst, the sustainable travel initiative he launched in 2019.

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The filing lists the date of Harry's residency change as June 29, 2023, the date that Buckingham Palace confirmed Harry and Meghan had officially moved out of Frogmore Cottage, their former home in Windsor.

Despite this, sources claimed to US Weekly that Prince Harry will “always be fond” of the UK.

“The way he views it, his wife and kids are his priority,” the source told the publication.

“If that means making sure they’re safe and happy in Montecito, then he supports that."