What Harry and Meghan’s Return to the UK Could Look Like After Years of Royal Family Drama Unfolds Now

LONDON — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, surprised the world this week with news that they plan to move back to the United Kingdom more than six years after stepping away from their senior royal roles and settling in Montecito, California.

According to the BBC, the decision was made relatively recently, with King Charles III only informed of the couple’s plans on Sunday, Aug. 16. A source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Charles “welcomes the opportunity” to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity. According to The Telegraph, which first reported the move, the couple’s children, 7-year-old Archie and 5-year-old Lilibet, are set to begin the school year in the U.K. this September.

The location of the family’s new home is being closely guarded, though multiple outlets, including ABC News and CNN, report the family intends to settle in a private, non-royal residence outside London rather than returning to any official royal property. NewsNation similarly reported the family will be staying in a non-royal home, with its precise location undisclosed.

Crucially, the move does not signal any return to official royal duties. A source told ABC News that Charles has made clear there will be no alteration to Harry and Meghan’s status as private individuals and non-working royals, consistent with the arrangement the couple themselves requested when they stepped back in 2020. CNN reported the same assurance, noting the king has been explicit that the Sussexes will remain non-working members of the family. The couple will reportedly continue their professional ventures from the U.K., including Harry and Meghan’s production work through Archewell and Meghan’s separate lifestyle brand.

The announcement follows a significant family reunion earlier this summer. Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, met with Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet during a visit to the U.K. in July, according to a royal source who confirmed the meeting to ABC News. That gathering marked the first time Charles and Camilla were known to have seen Meghan and their grandchildren since 2022. Notably, the Sussexes were not known to have seen Prince William, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, or their three children during that visit. According to The Telegraph, as cited by NBC News’ Today, Harry and Meghan’s decision to relocate was not actually discussed during that July visit itself, meaning the substance of the move appears to have been finalized separately and communicated to the king only days before this week’s public announcement.

Sky News royal reporter Laura Bundock told Variety that the July trip appeared to represent a meaningful turning point in the family’s relationships. “I think they had a really good trip here in the summer,” Bundock said, noting that the visit had also included time with relatives connected to Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, some of whom Archie and Lilibet were meeting for the first time.

The relationship between Harry and his brother, William, remains a considerably more complicated matter. According to Variety, the bond between the two brothers has been described as severely damaged following the 2023 publication of Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” and the couple’s bombshell 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they leveled allegations of racism and mistreatment against unnamed members of the royal family. Bundock offered a cautious assessment of what the move back to Britain might mean for that specific relationship. “Their friendship circles and acquaintances overlap to some extent,” she said, “but I think to say that this is a moment of great reconciliation between those feuding brothers is far from reality.” A royal insider separately told NewsNation weeks earlier that William has “no interest at all” in speaking to his brother.

Harry’s efforts to rebuild his relationship specifically with his father have followed a somewhat different trajectory. King Charles announced his cancer diagnosis in February 2024, a development that has periodically factored into discussions about reconciliation between father and son. In September 2025, the two reunited for the first time in 19 months. Harry addressed his hopes for reconciliation directly in a May 2025 interview with the BBC. “I would love reconciliation with my family,” Harry said at the time. “There’s no point in continuing to fight. Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has. It would be nice to reconcile.”

Following the family’s July trip, Meghan shared photographs from their time overseas, including images from a visit to Princess Diana’s childhood home, offering a rare public glimpse into the family’s time together during what has since been described by royal watchers as a pivotal visit ahead of this week’s relocation announcement.

The couple’s return marks a striking reversal from the circumstances of their original 2020 departure, an exit that became widely known as “Megxit.” At the time, Harry and Meghan announced in a statement described as “a personal message from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” that they intended to step back as senior royals and work toward financial independence, while continuing to support Queen Elizabeth II. That original announcement caught even some within the royal household by surprise; a follow-up statement from Buckingham Palace at the time noted that discussions with the couple were “at an early stage,” adding, “We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.” As part of that earlier transition, the couple relinquished their use of HRH titles, agreed to no longer represent the monarch in an official capacity, and pledged to repay the roughly $3.1 million in Sovereign Grant funds spent renovating Frogmore Cottage, their former U.K. residence.

As Harry and Meghan now prepare to reestablish a life in Britain more than six years later, questions remain about how the wider family, particularly William and Catherine, will navigate the couple’s return, and whether the warmth shown during July’s reunion with King Charles will extend more broadly across a family relationship that has remained publicly strained since 2020. Neither Buckingham Palace nor representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released a detailed public statement addressing how the family’s day-to-day dynamics might evolve once Harry, Meghan and their children are settled back in the U.K. later this month.