Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Reportedly Took a Personal Side Trip to Portugal After Invictus Games

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle participated in the time-honored tradition of bleisure—the combination of traveling for business and leisure, that is—and reportedly popped over to Portugal for a few days after the close of this year’s Invictus Games.

Local outlet Nova Gente first reported the royals’ three-day jaunt, tacked onto the end of their duties at the games, which Harry co-founded to honor wounded and ill veterans and active military personnel and give a chance to compete in various sporting events. According to translation from Page Six, Harry and Meghan jetted from Dusseldorf to Lisbon, Portugal on September 16, then headed to CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club in what Nova Gente called a “mega-secret operation.” (Vanity Fair has reached out to reps for the Sussexes for comment.)

During their reported three-day stay, the Sussexes spent time with Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. Brooksbank works at the resort in a marketing and sales role, and he and Eugenie, along with their two sons, typically split their time between Portugal and London.

An unnamed “insider” told the local outlet that “the choice of this location would have been related to a possible invitation from Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie who, since the start of last year, has been spending a lot of time in this part of the Alentejo because of her husband’s work.”

Since resigning their roles as working senior royals in a shock move in 2020, Harry and Meghan’s relationship with much of the royal family has been strained, to say the least: Harry observed the first anniversary of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s passing alone recently, and he attended father King Charles III’s coronation, but didn’t participate in the ceremonial festivities and swiftly exited the U.K. after. Markle did not attend, despite wig-related theories to the contrary. The Sussex’s relationship with Eugenie and her family, however, remains close. She has supported the couple personally and professionally after their exit, participating in their Archewell Foundation charity, and has hung out with them many times, including attending the Super Bowl with Harry last year. (Brooksbanks and Markle stayed behind in Montecito for that one.) She was also reportedly one of the first members of the royal family to be told when Meghan and Harry started dating in 2016.

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