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Meghan Markle's summer holiday snaps reveal the Sussexes spent much of their break in Portugal's 'Iberian Hamptons' - an exclusive enclave also home to Prince Harry's cousin, Princess Eugenie.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are believed to have bought a £6.3million villa at the prestigious CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club, a 300-home development on the idyllic Melides coast.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has said the secret family holiday to Portugal underlines how close Harry and Meghan remain to their only remaining royal ally, Eugenie.

Meghan's holiday photos, shared with her 4.5million Instagram followers, show them on Portugal's pristine beaches, frolicking in a pool and dining at a rustic local fish restaurant as well as browsing local pottery and homeware.

Mr Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail he believes the trip was almost certainly coordinated so the Sussexes could spend time with Eugenie and Jack, who have two children and a third on the way.

'This trip clearly signals that the couples remain close,' he said, adding Harry and Meghan want to maintain ties with the Royal Family.

'Now we know that Harry and Meghan have a base in Europe, their exile in California is far less distant,' he said.

Pictures shared by Meghan show Harry charging into the Atlantic surf in Portugal, closely followed by Archie and Lilibet, while the Duchess watches from the shoreline in a swimsuit.

Other photographs appear to offer glimpses of the family's life this summer. Meghan shared an image of the traditional seafood restaurant O Melidense, located near the luxury resort, and was also pictured browsing a rustic homeware shop, seemingly photographed by Harry.

In another snap, Meghan and Harry are seen laughing together over dinner. Elsewhere, the Duchess walks towards the beach with Lilibet, while another image shows Harry tossing his daughter playfully into the air in a swimming pool with Archie nearby.

In all of the images featuring the children, their faces are turned away from the camera to hide their faces, reflecting Meghan and Harry's long-standing convention when posting about their children.

Like the Hamptons in the US, the beaches in Melides - just an hour's drive from Lisbon - are sandy and can go on for 40 miles.

The area with spectacular Atlantic cliffs also enjoys around 300 sunny days per year.

Harry runs towards churning waves in one of the photos, with Lilibet and Archie dashing behind him, while Meghan watches from the shore during their summer holiday to Portugal

Meghan Markle has shared a series of 'summer holiday' photos of Prince Harry and their children Archie and Lilibet while in Europe

An image of Meghan walking towards the beach in Portugal with Lilibet was one of the several 'summer holiday' snaps shared

In another 'summer holiday' picture, Prince Harry was seen playfully tossing Lilibet through the air while in the swimming pool

Meghan shared the image of a front of a Portuguese fish restaurant, O Melidense, close to their exclusive development

Meghan also showed herself in a rustic homeware store

Mr Fitzwilliams said the relationship between the Sussexes and the Brooksbanks could prove 'extremely significant'.

'We have known that Harry and Meghan and Eugenie and her husband Jack have been close for years. It will be interesting to see how they intend to develop this friendship,' he said.

'Will it, for example, lead to more solo or perhaps even joint visits to Britain, but without participating in royal life or royal rituals at Sandringham and Balmoral?

'It might lead to a 'faux royal' tour of an EU country following their trips to Nigeria and Colombia.

'It will certainly involve their children, and we may see photos of Archie and Lili with Eugenie and Jack in the future.

'Now we know that Harry and Meghan have a base in Europe, their exile in California is far less distant.'

When they were in the UK, Harry took his wife Meghan Markle and their children to his mother Princess Diana's ancestral stately home in the UK, where they laid flowers at her grave.

After being unable to stay at Buckingham Palace, the Duchess of Sussex revealed to her 4.7 million Instagram followers that the family stayed as guests of Harry's uncle, Earl Spencer, at Althorp.

In one image taken by Meghan, Lilibet is seen walking through the Northamptonshire estate's famous avenue of trees, close to the private island on a lake where Diana is buried.

Ahead of her are Harry and Archie, with all three carrying large bouquets of flowers to lay at Princess Diana's grave and the nearby memorial.

Sources have confirmed to the Daily Mail that Meghan's pictures were taken at Althorp.

One picture shows Meghan on a sun-lounger with Earl Spencer and his new wife Dr Cat Jarman next to her. The Duchess of Sussex is petting her rescue beagle, Mamma Mia, who appears to have travelled to Europe with the family.

People, widely considered the Sussexes' preferred publication in the US, reports: 'The trip gave Archie and Lilibet the opportunity to spend time at a place so closely tied to their late grandmother, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 when Harry was 12.'

The Daily Mail exclusively revealed that Harry and Meghan have acquired property in Melides, site of the luxury development that Eugenie and Jack live in and where Mr Brooksbank is marketing chief. The couple spend months per year there with their two children. Eugenie is currently pregnant

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared unseen photographs as they partied with Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on Halloween in their Netflix documentary

Meghan was seen posing for a playful selfie with Harry's cousin Eugenie

In the Instagram set, titled Summer Holiday, Meghan also shared a landscape image that appears to show Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands, suggesting the family may also have secretly visited Scotland.

Among the other snaps were shots of curated dinner tables, a landscape of hills around a lake, and picked lavender stalks.

Archie also appeared in the cockpit of a plane wearing a pilot's hat as three aviators looked on while he pretended to take the controls.

Following their trip on the continent, Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet enjoyed a private cup of tea with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove.

But there are no photographs of their reunion with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove a fortnight ago.

Harry had wanted Meghan and his young family to join him for the entirety of the five-day trip, which focused on Invictus and his former charities.

Instead, he flew to Britain alone and, hours before he arrived in London, fresh chaos erupted when an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace was withdrawn.

Meghan delayed her arrival and entered the country secretly with Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, amid ongoing security concerns.

A friend of the couple said Meghan would have felt 'humiliated' and experienced 'sadness' over the way the week unfolded.

The family had been visiting Europe in recent weeks ahead of Prince Harry's return to the UK this month to attend the Invictus Games in Birmingham where he had intended to bring Meghan and their two children with him for the entirety of the five-day trip.

Lilibet was seen walking through an avenue of trees and hedges at Althorp, Princess Diana's childhood home - with Harry and Archie strolling together up ahead appearing to hold bouquets

An aerial view of Althorp House, home of the aristocratic Spencer family and the location of the burial site of Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana's final resting place can only be reached by boat and is on the island at the centre of Althorp's Oval Lake. It is not accessible to the public

There is also a shrine to Diana next to the water, which the public can see when the estate is open (pictured)

There was a shot of Archie walking barefoot and looking toward the sunset while holding a stick, also in Althorp

Meghan posted an image of herself lying on her front on a sun lounger with Harry's uncle Earl Spencer in the background on right and his new wife Dr Cat Jarman. Meghan is petting her dog Mamma Mia, suggesting the rescue beagle has been travelling Europe with them

Archie also appeared in the cockpit of a plane donning a pilot's hat, while the three aviators surrounded him as he took a turn pretending to fly

Meghan also shared this picture, which appears to be of the Highlands, suggesting they may also have visited Scotland

The Duchess also photographed a harvest of lavender

The Highgrove visit – which would have been the first time Charles had seen his daughter-in-law and grandchildren since 2022 – was confirmed by Buckingham Palace after the family had left.

Harry and his family are believed to have met the King and Queen for more than an hour.

Highgrove, the King's private Gloucestershire estate, is where Harry spent much of his childhood, complete with the treehouse and swimming pool he knew as a boy.

The visit to Highgrove came after a chaotic back-and-forth about where Prince Harry would stay during his trip.

The King is said to have lost patience when Harry dithered over an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace at the start of his trip.

The Duke initially rejected the accommodation before changing his mind and attempting to accept after the deadline had passed.

Harry's spokesman subsequently briefed the BBC that he would be staying at the Palace, only for the King's aides to indicate that he had left it too late.

The visit came days after Prince Harry lost his High Court case against the Daily Mail.