Meghan Markle's thinly-veiled swipe at royals as she reveals surprise Thanksgiving guest

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will have a major celebration later this week - Thanksgiving. And Meghan has opened up about her plans for the holiday and a previous special guest she invited to spend the day with them

Americans are gearing up for one of their biggest holidays of the year - and it seems Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are among them.

This Thursday sees the US mark Thanksgiving with families across the country coming together for a huge turkey feast and to spend quality time together. And Meghan has opened up about her and Harry's Thanksgiving plans for 2024 and revealed how one year, they even invited a very special guests to spend the day with them.

Meghan talked about her plans as she hosted a dinner for women from Afghanistan, who had relocated to California and were being supported by the Sussexes' Welcome Project, which helps create communities for women from Afghanistan and provides resources.

The Duchess of Sussex is known to be a fan of Thanksgiving but says the celebrations for her and Harry are always "pretty low-key" and told Marie Claire magazine that "being close to my mom is great" suggesting Doria will also be spending the day with the Sussexes.

Of course, Thanksgiving is a new celebration for Harry as it is not a celebration marked in the UK and by the Royal Family. It is not believed any of Harry's royal relatives have joined in with his Thanksgiving celebrations.

However, Meghan revealed that one year the couple had a special unexpected guest at Thanksgiving - the feminist activist, Gloria Steinem. She added: "I was thinking about, in the past few years of having Thanksgiving here, like many of us, I think you always make sure there's room at the table for your friends who don’t have family, which is really key."

Previously in 2016, Meghan shared a snap of her "perfect Thanksgiving turkey" on her now-defunct Instagram account. She explained she cooked in on the barbecue instead of in the oven in order to retain as much flavour as possible and create a crispy skin.

As well as this, she has also previously shared several Thanksgiving recipes on her now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig, including ideas for using up leftovers - one popular one was for turkey tortilla soup.

Thanksgiving in America also marks the start of the run-up to Christmas and it always prompts speculation if Harry and Meghan will return to the UK for the festive season. As is tradition, the royals are expected to decamp to Norfolk to the Sandringham estate where they celebrate the festive period, with the traditional church service on Christmas Day followed by a seasonal feast. Since the late Queen's death, King Charles has carried on the custom of inviting the whole of the family to the celebration.

It is unknown exactly if Harry and Meghan have been invited this year, but even if they were, there would be one massive stumbling block, as it seems the Sussexes would only come to the country if one major thing changes. According to The Telegraph, unless Harry can overturn a ruling by the Home Office that he is not immediately entitled to police protection when in the UK - he does not feel he can bring Meghan, Archie and Lilibet to his homeland.

Harry had been taking legal action over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) after being told he would no longer be given the "same degree" of publicly-funded protection when in the country.

The court was told that Harry believes his children, Archie and Lilibet cannot "feel at home" in the UK if it is "not possible to keep them safe" there. At a previous hearing of the case, in a written statement, Harry said: "It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020. The UK is my home.

"The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home, as much as where they live at the moment in the United States. That cannot happen if it's not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm's way too." Harry lost his claim earlier this year but has been granted permission to appeal the decision.