Prince Harry, Meghan Markle leaving UK soon after queen's funeral: source

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been in the country since Sept. 5.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will reportedly not be sticking around after Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and are planning to return home to their children Archie and Lilibet in California.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not plan to extend their stay in the U.K. after their initial one-week itinerary from Sept. 5. But the death of Her Majesty warranted their presence and the 38-year-old had to attend funeral events along with the rest of the British Royal Family.

It was an unexpected family reunion indeed and one marred with sadness. But according to OK! magazine, the couple does not plan to extend their stay even longer even after King Charles III called for all family members to observe a seven-day period of mourning following Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral on Sept. 19.

"Meghan and Harry won't stick around after the queen's funeral and plan to return to California. Obviously, they were unprepared to remain in the U.K. for this long," an insider said.

The source acknowledged that "it's been an emotional and heartbreaking week" for everyone. However, they would have to eventually move on with their lives. This means the Duke and Duchess of Sussex need to get back to their children, who they have been away from for nearly a month.

The insider said that the parents are "looking forward" to being with Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1 in California, since "this is the longest amount of time they've ever been apart from their kids in one go." The children have reportedly been under the care of their grandmother, Doria Ragland, while their parents were in the U.K.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been in the country since Sept. 5. They were in Manchester for the One Young World Summit and were initially supposed to attend the WellChild Awards in London on Sept. 8. But news of Her Majesty's death made them drop prior engagements so the Duke of Sussex could catch a flight to Scotland. He arrived at Balmoral Castle around 8:00 p.m. and by that time, Queen Elizabeth II had already died. Only King Charles, Camilla, and Princess Anne, who were already in Scotland, were able to be with her during her final hours.