The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have received an invitation to spend Christmas with Charles Spencer at Althorp, Express.co.uk has learned.

If Prince Harry and Meghan Markle accept, it will be the first time the Duchess has properly set foot in the UK since the late Queen’s funeral in 2022.

The source adds that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not yet received an invitation to join the Royal Family at their annual Sandringham gathering – and it’s not thought they would accept even if one was extended.

“Charles [Spencer] has invited Harry, Meghan and the children to Althorp this Christmas,” said the source. “It’s far too early to say whether they will take him up on it, but the offer is there if they want it.

“There hasn’t been an invitation extended to Sandringham just yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be one forthcoming.

“It would be highly unlikely if there was an invitation extended [to Sandringham] and I don’t think they [the Sussexes) would take them up on it anyway.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were notably absent from the Royal Family’s Christmas gathering at Sandringham last festive season. The couple were also excluded from the Firm’s “summer summit” at Balmoral last week.

However, despite a snub from Harry’s own family, his late mother Princess Diana’s family, the Spencers, have taken him under their wing.

It was reported that Prince Harry visited Althorp House – the Spencer ancestral home and final resting place of his late mother – during his trip to Britain last week.

The Duke stayed with his uncle Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, at the estate after going to the memorial service for Diana’s brother-in-law, Lord Robert Fellowes.

Prince Harry made a surprise appearance at the service in Snettisham, Norfolk, and is reported to have stayed at the Althorp estate in Northamptonshire.

The funeral was also attended by his brother, Prince William, but eyewitnesses claimed the estranged brothers kept their distance and sat apart at the back of St Mary’s Church.

Last Thursday’s service took place just two days before the 27th anniversary of Diana’s death. Her final resting place is on an island on the Oval Lake at Althorp.

Prince Harry has remained close to his late mother’s family over the years. Her brother Charles also attended a service in May for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. No senior royals were in attendance.

Both the Sussexes and Earl Spencer have been approached for comment.