Prince Harry has not yet taken his children to Balmoral, the private royal estate in Aberdeenshire that he has described as 'simply paradise'.

He has, however, secretly taken them to a remote Scottish island owned by a hedge fund tycoon.

The Daily Mail understands that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, stayed earlier this month on Tanera Mor.

The private island is said to have inspired The Wicker Man, the cult 1973 film starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland.

Harry is thought to have previously visited the island, which was bought for £1.7million in 2017 by billionaire Ian Wace, co-founder of hedge fund giant Marshall Wace.

When Wace, 63, bought Tanera Mor, the largest of the Summer Isles, it had a population of just five, who were outnumbered by crofters' cottages in various stages of dereliction. 

But the 800-acre island has since been transformed by Wace, who has poured £100million into it, planting 100,000 trees, restoring a dozen properties and laying three miles of roads.

He has also revived skills such as beekeeping. But perhaps the aspect which would have most appealed to Harry is that, by last year, more than half of the 1,000 guests Tanera had hosted were from the Taigh Mor Foundation.

It's a charity which strives to bolster the wellbeing of those serving in the armed forces or emergency services. 

During their time on the isle, they restore buildings, harvest seaweed, fish for mackerel or work in the kitchens or gardens.

A noted philanthropist, Wace has been friendly with Harry and his brother, Prince William, for years. 

Wace's then wife, former model Saffron Aldridge, 57, bonded with Meghan, 44, after the US actress moved to Britain to live with Harry. 

In 2019, the year after Meghan married the prince, Saffron and Wace joined the couple for a Cirque du Soleil performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

Meghan, it was reported at the time, appreciated that Saffron was 'a straight talker'. The women's mutual interest in fashion also helped. 

Wace and Saffron split in 2023 and have since divorced but remain friends.

The Sussexes are believed to have travelled to Scotland from Northamptonshire, where they stayed with Earl and Countess Spencer at his ancestral home, Althorp. 

While there, they laid flowers at the grave of Harry's mother, Diana. During the family's trip to Britain, they also had tea with Harry's father, King Charles, and stepmother, Queen Camilla, at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess said: 'This is not something we would comment on.'

A spokesman for Wace also declined to comment.