Six years after their shock departure from the UK, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are making an even more dramatic return.
In bombshell news last week, they revealed that they, along with their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, will return to the UK for an extended period. The young royals are believed to be already enrolled in a British school. The couple will live in a non-royal home – they gave up Frogmore Cottage in 2023 – and won’t be working royals.
The news comes just weeks after Harry, 41, had a private reunion with his father, King Charles, 77, and stepmother Queen Camilla, 79. The meeting, considered a success, was the first time in four years that Archie and Lilibet had seen their grandfather.
Sources say Charles was “made aware” of the plans on August 16 and “welcomes the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity”.
Harry has previously stated he wanted to mend his fractured relationship with his family and intended to focus on the British charities he supports, including the Invictus Games, but now it appears he wants more than this.
While they’ll keep their $24.7 million mansion in Montecito, California, they are reportedly planning to stay in England until the children finish their education.
Their shock news comes as insiders say that Harry and Meghan, 45, are living the life that Queen Elizabeth had refused in 2020 – being half in and half out of the royal family.
The cracks begin to show
The couple, who wed in 2018, had become unhappy in England, with the cracks showing by the following year. Then Meghan revealed in an interview that all was not well, and that there were problems between Harry and his brother, Prince William. Stories also emerged about Meghan bullying staff. Not long afterwards, the Sussexes split their household with William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, to set up one of their own.
A year later, they released a statement on their now-defunct Instagram profile, saying they wanted to “carve out a progressive new role within this institution”.
The then-Queen firmly rejected their proposal, and they officially stepped down and moved to the US. Since then, Harry and Meghan have publicly slammed the royal family, including in their bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, their Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan and in Harry’s memoir Spare. All this happened as the family was dealing with their own struggles, including the sad deaths of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth.
A surprising return to the UK
The move is also a shock because Harry has long insisted he would not take his family to the UK after their taxpayer-funded police security was pulled by the Home Office because he and Meghan are no longer working royals.
Harry has said he feels his family would not be safe there without police bodyguards and fought numerous court battles to get the protection reinstated, which he lost.
It was a surprise when Meghan, Archie and Lilibet joined him during his visit to the UK last month, although they kept a very low profile and weren’t spotted. Security arrangements for the family when they move back have not been disclosed.
The life they dreamed of
The couple had dreamed of being “financially independent” while splitting their time between the UK and America, but it was a firm no from the Queen – one could not be a working royal while earning a private income.
Since then, the pair has worked with media giants Netflix and Spotify, with Meghan attempting to make money via her TV show With Love, Meghan and by selling products such as jam through her lifestyle brand As Ever.
Sources say the couple has, “Built the life they envisioned – championing the causes most important to them while supporting themselves financially, paying their own bills and mortgage.”
For all intents and purposes, their social media lives seem perfect, but this latest move may indicate yet another change in heart, and direction, for Harry and Meghan, who appear to want another reinvention.
