Why Meghan Markle may ‘never’ return to the UK

Another day, another royal expert weighing in on whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will ever manage to heal their royal rift.

Yes, despite stepping down from their senior royal roles, and swapping Frogmore Cottage for exclusive California enclave Montecito, Harry and Meghan are still all anyone can talk about here in the UK – from their first official joint magazine cover, to their whistle-stop tour of New York City last week.

Speculation has abounded over whether the couple will pay a visit to the UK after they fled their Windsor home "in the dead of night"; with some experts predicting that the Sussexes are priming for a Christmas trip with their children, Lilibet and Archie, and some predicting that they may never return to Britain again.

In the latter camp is royal commentator Robert Jobson, who recently told US Weekly that he isn't expecting a UK visit from Meghan anytime soon.

"I'm not sure Meghan will ever come to Britain again," Jobson, who is the author of Philip’s Century: The Extraordinary Life of the Duke of Edinburgh, said. "She’s not popular [right] now.

"We have to wait and see.… Harry, I’m sure he thinks he’ll be there for the [Platinum Jubilee],” the biographer continued. "But you’ve got to remember that within months, he’s going to have a book coming out.… It’s gonna be quite awkward."

Awkward it may be, but Harry's two recent solo trips back to the UK suggest the royal couple aren't done with us just yet – with the fact that they've maintained their cottage in Windsor, despite buying their "forever home" in California, further hinting at a possible return.

And given what the Queen has in store for her Platinum Jubilee celebrations (which, incidentally, are reported to include a special tribute to the Sussexes), they'd be crazy not to.

Her Majesty is rumoured to be celebrating her landmark 70 years on the throne with a four-night party, complete with an A-list guest list. (Not forgetting, of course, the fact that we'll all be getting an extra Bank Holiday.)

And it turns out that the monarch has already extended an invitation to Meghan and Harry – though whether they will appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony alongside the working royals remains unclear, with a source recently telling The Mail on Sunday, "The balcony moment will be decided much nearer the time but there’s a limit to how many family members should be on it, and I would have thought that working Royals who contribute to the family would be higher on the list than the Sussexes."

Either way, we hope to see Harry and Meghan back on UK soil soon!