Stop! That! Train! is a very silly film – in the best possible way. It’s a disaster-action movie parody in the vein of The Naked Gun (1988), Hot Shots! (1991) and Airplane! (1980). In fact, Stop! That! Train!’s relationship to the latter is a little bit like a drag queen lip synching to their favourite diva’s famous belter: there’s space for interpretation, but the lyrics and the voice are pretty much set in stone.

Consequently, quite a few gags, not to mention the main narrative thrust of the plucky underdogs saving the day, are virtually lifted (with updates and variations) from Airplane! But as RuPaul Charles, the undisputed ruler of the Drag Race universe from which Stop! That! Train! has emerged, once wisely advised the Drag Race queens lip synching for the crown: “Good luck, and don’t fuck it up!”

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RuPaul’s Drag Race: our research shows how it helps destigmatise the LGBTQ+ community

This very sensible piece of advice couldn’t ring truer for Tess and DeeDee (played by drag queens Ginger Minj and Jujubee), two spirited train stewardesses working for the decidedly downmarket Stank Rail. When the duo spots an opportunity to better themselves and wangle their way into the far more prestigious Glamazonian Express, they realise that they will need all the luck they can get.

Not only do they face a gaggle of snooty first class mean girl stewardesses, demanding passengers and hapless train conductors; they also come up against faulty brakes and an unprecedented weather event called Stormaganza. To tackle this smorgasbord of challenges, they team up with the country’s commander-in-chief – President Gagwell, played by RuPaul.

Stop! That! Train! is a lot of fun – so long as you’re someone who doesn’t take yourself too seriously. Minj and Jujubee are both Drag Race veterans. Their performances are gloriously camp, ridiculous, over the top and very watchable. The film also sports a head-spinning number of celebrity cameos and bit parts. This includes Sarah Michelle Gellar, living in constant expectation and hope of being recognised and The Real Housewives’ Lisa Rinna, who is billed, rather splendidly, as “Sceney Celebrity”.

Given all this, you could be forgiven for thinking that Stop! That! Train!, among all its high jinks, may offer a robust critique of celebrity culture. And, to an extent, it does. But it is surface deep; definitely shallower than the layers of a drag queen’s make-up.

The limits of pastiche

Pastiche and parody are hard to do well. And it can also be hard to know what you can reasonably expect from them. On the one hand, the very nature of the spoof genre (and its reliance on exaggeration, ridiculousness and snubbing realism) prevents the viewer from caring about the characters too much. On the other, it allows comic artistry to expose the constructed, mawkish and cheaply sentimental nature of caring encouraged by the very genre that’s being parodied.

While Stop! That! Train! feels sanitised for mainstream audiences, it does have moments of real, bawdy edge and darkness that would probably not pass muster (or the morality test) in a “straighter” or more serious context. The merciless and sustained mockery of straightness, encapsulated in the hunky himbo of a co-conductor, Cal (played by the excellent Brian Jordan Alvarez), is particularly funny. It feels like a fitting payback for the numerous caricatures of non-straight characters in mainstream films.

Perhaps it’s an unrealistic expectation, but I wanted more paybacks and more subversion. Good queer, camp humour – and good drag, too – can take stereotypes and rigid social norms used to marginalise queer people and exaggerate or appropriate them, turning them into tools for mocking and challenging those norms.

If, as the American critic Susan Sontag claimed, camp is all about “artifice and exaggeration”, it is also – especially in recent years – about fighting back. This feels particularly important now, when attacks on drag performers have reached new heights. Drag, it has been argued by researcher Ella Greenhalgh, has become a force of queer resistance.

This resistance is not very visible in the largely depoliticised Stop! That! Train!, any more than it is visible in RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Maybe that’s too much to ask. After all, the same expectation of social commentary is relatively rarely placed on actual disaster-action movies (although some, such as 2021’s Don’t Look Up, have done a pretty good job in engaging with wider issues). But the current trend of revisiting the parodies of the 1980s — which includes the recently revived The Naked Gun (2025) — feels like an opportunity to update them. And giving them some teeth wouldn’t be the worst way to drag them (not necessarily kicking and screaming) into the 21st century.

Radley London will close its website on August 19 at midnight, with customers having only a few hours left to shop for online bargains in its clearance sale.

In May, Gordon Brothers, which also owns Poundland, bought Radley, but now all of the Radley stores in the UK will reportedly close by the end of August, Retail Week reports.

At the time, Gordon Brothers, which also owns LK Bennett, purchased the Radley brand, intellectual property and some assets in a pre-pack administration deal.

However, the takeover didn’t include Radley’s retail operations, which include 21 stores across the UK.

It confirmed that 42 jobs would also be lost “with immediate effect”, as a result.

The clearance sale has been seen in UK stores too, with customers able to get up to 70% off handbags, meaning some of the sale items have more than £100 off their usual price tags.

Customers at the Radley store at Somerset’s Clarks Village have been told it will be closing its doors.

The handbag retailer put up signs in the shop windows confirming the closure.

Newsquest has approached Gordon Brothers for comment.

What happens when a company goes into administration?

UK companies that have closed or entered administration/liquidation in 2026

This year, the British high street has seen various retailers closing stores and filing for administration.

Major high street brands LK Bennett, Claire’s and Quiz have been forced to close all their remaining stores after falling into administration.

UK fashion retailer Leading Labels is also set to close its remaining 15 stores after falling into liquidation.

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Whitbread recently confirmed it will be closing all its UK restaurants in September:

• Brewers Fayre (89 locations) – September 7
• Beefeater (106) – September 10
• Bar + Block – September 3
• Table Table – September 3
• Cookhouse + Pub – September 3

TG Jones and the British Heart Foundation will both be closing around 150 stores across the UK.

A variety of other businesses have entered administration or liquidation this year, including construction firms and travel companies.

Will you miss Radley if it closes all its UK stores? Tell us in the comments.

Harry and Meghan have already secured a new secret home in Britain following their shock announcement that they would be returning to the UK this month. 

Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, are understood to be returning for an ‘extended period’ later this month, with Archie and Lilibet set to enrol at a British school. 

The family are understood to be moving into a non-royal residence and will not be working royals.

And the Duke and Duchess no longer require accommodation for their patronages, as the whole family is believed to be returning within the next two weeks.

And while they are set to retain their £11million Montecito home and their residence in Portugal, it is not yet known whether their UK move will be permanent. 

While the couple have secured a property to reside in, the exact location has been kept tightly under wraps for security reasons. 

Before departing to the US in a shock move that was dubbed ‘Megxit’, the couple lived in Frogmore Cottage in 2020.

And despite living there for less than a year, the Sussexes still splashed £2.4million on renovations and decor inside the Grade-II listed building. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex resided in Frogmore Cottage (pictured) for less than a year – but the home still underwent £2.4million worth of renovations

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured in 2019) gave viewers a glimpse inside their Frogmore Cottage kitchen in their Netflix documentary

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 The home was said to be filled with furniture from the luxury store Soho Home, while ceiling beams and floor joists were replaced.

Meanwhile, the property’s electrical system was rewired, new gas and water mains were installed, as well as £50,000 soundproofing to reduce noise pollution.

Soho House club designer Vicky Charles – a close friend of the Beckhams and the Clooneys – was also enlisted to help decorate the property with vegan paint.

The pair also joined the two pre-existing semi-detached houses into one big family home after the late Queen gave the property as a wedding present.

Currently, the Grade-II listed property’s future is said to be under consideration, as separating the building was being assessed for viability.

And while construction has not yet begun, insiders claim it would be a major and expensive renovation.

In January 2020, the couple stepped down as working royals and moved to Montecito, California, where they lived until now with their children.

Six months later, Harry paid back the £2.4million and was officially evicted by King Charles in 2023, weeks after publishing his controversial memoir Spare.

However, the royal residence is not the only UK home the couple shared before departing across the pond.

Following their 2018 wedding, the couple signed a two-year lease on a £4.12million Cotswolds property nestled near Chipping Norton.

The four-bedroom farmhouse, situated on the Great Tew Estate, boasted a converted barn as well as another two-bedroom cottage.

The four-bedroom farmhouse called Westfield Large came with four acres of land as well as a heated patio, House and Garden reported.

However, it was not always grand million-pound renovations and quaint cottages in the Cotswolds for the Sussexes.

During their engagement in November 2017, the Suits actress moved to be with Harry in Nottingham Cottage after the famed TV series came to an end.

At the time, a source told UsWeekly: ‘With Suits over, so is Meghan’s life in Toronto.

‘It’s the end of a really precious era, so she’s definitely sad to see it come to an end, but she’s also really excited about starting a new chapter with Harry.’

But the 17th-century residence within Kensington Palace was not as glamorous as one may think, Meghan previously shared.

The kitchen in the Duke’s two-bedroom flat had black-and-white tiles, a dining room, and a small living room, which was around 1,300 square feet in size.

In the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, the Duchess previously said: ‘Kensington Palace sounds very regal, of course it does.

‘It says “palace” in the name. But it was so small.’

Harry chimed in: ‘The whole thing’s on a slight lean, really low ceilings. I don’t know who was there before; they must have been very short.’

Ukraine’s campaign to target Russia’s e-commerce giant Wildberries has had impacts far beyond the Russian federation. For Russia, Wildberries is comparable to Amazon, accounting for about 50% of the country’s online retail market. But its market place is used by manufacturers as far afield as Central Asia.

Founded in 2004 as an online clothing retailer, it has 98,000 pick-up points and supplies a vast network connecting more than a million sellers with consumers across Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

In 2025, the Wildberries-Russ group recorded 6.1 trillion roubles (about £55 billion) in sales – up 49% on the previous year. Reuters estimates that Russian online marketplaces now handle goods and services worth the equivalent of 8.5% of the country’s GDP.

What makes Wildberries more than a retailer is its reach. Since 2009, it has offered equal prices for deliveries, no matter whether they are in the Russian heartland or as far as the Kamchatkan peninsula in the Russian far east, or Barentsburg in the high Arctic.

Ukraine justifies targeting Wildberries by pointing to the fact that since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the retailer has also become a military-adjacent commerce platform. It carries tactical clothing, body armour, medical kits and communications equipment. Recent investigations have also found first-person-view drones and drone components listed on the platform.

Until the company reportedly removed the relevant tags in July, searches for “everything for the SVO” (the Russian acronym for spetsialnaya voyennaya operatsiya, special military operation) produced military-related goods. This does not establish Wildberries as a military logistics provider. But it shows how wartime demand can respond through infrastructure originally built for civilian commerce.

Since July 18, Ukrainian drone strikes have hit at least 20 Wildberries facilities, including three in the past week, damaging or destroying more than 1.18 million square metres of warehouse capacity as of August 7.

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Ukraine assault on Russian retail giant Wildberries brings war home to consumers and retailers

Wildberries is especially vulnerable as it concentrates goods in large warehouses. This makes distribution effective but also creates targets that are directly felt by thousands of businesses and millions of consumers. A successful strike travels through the retailer’s commercial network long after the strike hits.

Cross-border trade

That network also crosses Russia’s borders. In Kyrgyzstan, Wildberries has become an important export channel for small and medium-sized businesses, particularly the country’s burgeoning clothing sector. In March 2026, Wildberries and Kyrgyz Export agreed to create a “Made in Kyrgyzstan” section on the platform across all eight of its markets.

A July survey cited by Kyrgyz business media found that 55% of Kyrgyz Wildberries entrepreneurs said the platform had enabled them to enter foreign markets.

The model has changed the geography of Kyrgyz trade. For decades, the massive Dordoi Bazaar in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, connected sewing workshops with wholesalers, traders and transport companies serving Russia and Kazakhstan.

But digital commerce has added another route: producers can sell directly to Russian consumers while using Wildberries’ warehouses for storage and fulfilment.

That arrangement also creates a new vulnerability. Once Kyrgyz sellers transfer their inventory to a Russian Wildberries warehouse, the goods are physically outside their control. A destroyed warehouse can therefore turn a Russian military strike into a loss for a Kyrgyz business.

Kyrgyz media have already documented such cases. After the first strikes, Kyrgyz sellers reported destroyed inventories and the risk of bankruptcy. One entrepreneur that I interviewed for this article estimated that the volume of goods in his business had fallen by half. A family acquaintance, he said, had lost inventory worth about US$42,000 (£32,200). Another seller went from offering roughly 100 product types to just four.

Around 800 Kyrgyz e-commerce retailers issued an appeal to the government to support them in their compensation claims. While these accounts cannot establish the overall scale of the Kyrgyz losses, they illustrate how quickly a disruption at a distant logistics node can reach businesses in Bishkek.

Tightening supply chain regulations with Russia have already created significant distress for Kyrgyz garment producers for whom Russia is the main market. The Wildberries attacks have exacerbated this stress, which the Wildberries attacks have exacerbated. In response, Kyrgyz authorities have announced financial support in terms of preferential loan agreements and a “tax holiday” for small and medium-scale garment producers from August 1 until the end of the year. Compensation, however, remains largely a promise.

Wildberries’ seller agreement treats damage caused by drones and other military activity as force majeure (an uncontrollable and unforeseeable event) which limits the company’s liability. As one seller told me, Wildberries may be more likely to compensate Russian sellers with direct ties to the company’s financial infrastructure. For Kyrgyz entrepreneurs, even those holding substantial inventories in Russian warehouses, the risk and loss are more likely to remain their own.

War comes to Kyrgyzstan

So, given the ongoing attacks on Wildberries warehouses across Russia, the question for Kyrgyz entrepreneurs is bigger than whether Wildberries can restore its Russian warehouses. It is whether concentrating inventory inside a foreign logistics network remains a viable business strategy during wartime. The people I interviewed for this article argue that alternative storage and shipment opportunities will eventually emerge, but given the sheer scale of the current cash flow gap and the lack of trust in the business, things are unlikely to return to how they were before the attacks.

One possible answer would be to keep more inventory in Kyrgyzstan, diversify fulfilment providers and expand domestic warehousing. Wildberries itself has announced testing alternative “partner hubs”, by relocating them in countries that are outside of Ukraine’s drone range. For Kyrgyzstan, this could reinforce its position as a logistics hub.

But decentralisation has limits. Cross-border friction between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan tends to disrupt flows and lengthen delivery times, despite both countries being part of the same customs union. Building new warehouses also requires substantial time and investment – while a Russian company expanding its logistics infrastructure brings with it concerns about sanctions evasion.

This is not only an economic, but a wider geopolitical issue. While the e-commerce sector appeared to reduce the role of physical distance, in practice, it reorganises dependence around physical warehouses, roads, borders and political alliances. For Kyrgyzstan, the Wildberries strikes demonstrate that the logistics of war can reach Central Asia without a single missile or drone crossing the Kyrgyz border.

A wave of overnight Russian missile strikes has killed at least five people in the capital Kyiv and the surrounding region, Ukrainian authorities say.

Apartment blocks and warehouses were targeted in the “massive attack” on Thursday, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS). At least least 23 people were injured in the strikes.

Authorities are scrambling to rescue anyone trapped underneath the rubble of demolished buildings, with crews already pulling one survivor from debris.

Meanwhile, Poland’s army has announced it will launch “preventative military aviation operations” amid the Russian strikes on Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a children’s hospital had been damaged in the overnight strikes, where windows were broken and cars set ablaze nearby.

An industrial centre in the Solomyanskyi district, south-west Kyiv, was also hit by missiles, the mayor said.

An attack in Brovary district of the broader Kyiv region killed one man and wounded another, Kyiv regional governor Tymur Tkachenko said.

The regional administration issued an alert earlier in the night warning residents to take shelter. It continued: “Air defense operations are possible in the area”.

More missile alerts are still being issued throughout the night from regional authorities.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly set to return to the UK later this month, more than six years after their move to California

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Harry and Meghan are reportedly planning a return to the UK. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex intend to relocate back to Britain more than six years after they first moved to California, according to the Press Association.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the couple will make their return to the United Kingdom later this month, settling into a private residence outside of London rather than a royal property.

It is understood that there will be no alteration to Harry and Meghan’s standing as private individuals and non-working members of the royal family.

The King was informed of the planned move on Sunday and is said to welcome the prospect of spending more time with the family on both a private and personal basis.

However, their status is set to remain unchanged, with the couple not being extended a “half-in-half-out” arrangement regarding their royal roles, PA reports, reports the Irish Mirror.

The Telegraph — which first broke the story — also reports that the couple’s children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are enrolled to begin attending British schools in September.

He was said to be acting strangely before pouring lighter fluid on the floor

A man who tried to set fire to a council building has been jailed. Matthew Howson, 33, appeared at the reception of Huntingdonshire District Council’s offices at Pathfinder House in St Mary’s Street, Huntingdon, at around 1.30pm on April 14.

A man who was also at the reception with his dog said Howson was “acting very strange”. Howson then shouted “stop calling me a paedo”.

At Peterborough Crown Court on Wednesday (August 19), the court heard that Howson reached into a bag and produced a “can of lighter fluid”. The prosecution told the court that Howson then poured the fluid out onto the “floor in front of him” and “flames [were] seen coming from the floor area”.

The man with his dog went over to the fire to “stamp out the flames”. Howson then walked back to reception and produced a Stanley knife.

Prosecution told the court that this incident “happened in just over a minute”. Cambridgeshire Police were then called with reports of an “intruder” in a nearby disused fire station.

There, Howson was found with the lighter fluid and Stanley knife and arrested at around 2.30pm. He was later charged.

Howson was also found to be in breach of a condition of a stalking protection order. He failed to notify police that he had moved from his property in Newmarket, therefore breaching one of the conditions.

During the investigation, Howson admitted to the arson and possession of a knife. He said he was “unaware” that he breached the stalking order.

The court heard from the defence lawyer that the incident was a “short-lived event” and that there “didn’t appear to be serious alarm or distress caused”. However, the defence acknowledged that there may have been a “risk of alarm or distress”.

The court heard that mental health concerns were raised over Howson, as he had autism, ADHD, and an “unspecified mental disorder”.

The defence said Howson’s actions were “spontaneous”. He was also said to be carrying around items such as the lighter fluid as he was homeless, and the Stanley knife for “protection”.

Howson, who had been remanded in prison since April, was heard to be finding it “difficult”. The court heard that he wished to gain employment after serving his sentence and hoped to move to Bury St Edmunds to work with the church.

Howson was sentenced to a total of 22 months in prison. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison for arson with the intent to endanger, and a 12-month consecutive sentence for possession of a knife in a public place. No penalty was given for the breach of stalking protection order.

In giving his sentence, His Honour Judge Enright said that although distress was not caused, this event still would have been “frightening” for those who witnessed it.

Howson had 10 previous convictions for 15 offences. One of these was a caution for arson in 2012.

HONG KONG (AP) — A verdict is expected Friday in the case of two organizers of an annual Hong Kong vigil to remember the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown who are being tried under a China-imposed national security law that has stifled Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were charged in September 2021 with inciting subversion and face a maximum jail term of 10 years if convicted.

The activists pleaded not guilty when their trial opened in January and are expected to appear in court Friday. If convicted by three government-approved judges, they likely will be sentenced at a later date.

For three decades, the now-disbanded alliance organized the only large-scale, public commemoration in China that attracted tens of thousands annually until the event was banned in 2020 following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Observers say the activists’ prosecution and the disappearance of the vigil symbolized the loss of freedoms that Beijing promised to maintain for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The government said its law enforcement actions were evidence-based and strictly in accordance with the law.

Here’s what to know about the case:

Pair organized China’s only large-scale memorial for massacre

The 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square were one of the biggest challenges to the Communist Party’s rule in China. The government sent tanks into the heart of the capital city and troops opened fire on the student-led demonstrations in a bloody crackdown that killed hundreds, possibly thousands.

The event immediately became an official taboo in mainland China. But the alliance held annual vigils in Hong Kong to keep memories alive across the border until authorities banned the public remembrances during the pandemic, citing risks to public health.

Weeks after the ban, Beijing imposed the national security law that was later used to prosecute Lee, the alliance’s former chairperson, and Chow, a former vice chair. Authorities deemed the legislation crucial for Hong Kong’s stability following anti-government protests in 2019.

The alliance voted to disband in the same month as the pair was charged.

Beijing-imposed security law used to charge activists

Many other leading activists are now also jailed under the 2020 law, including the pro-democracy former media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Dozens of other civil society groups also disbanded following its introduction.

In the Lee and Chow trial, prosecutors argued they incited others to use unlawful means to topple China’s fundamental system and central political bodies, including inciting the overthrow of the Communist Party’s leadership through calls for “ending one-party rule,” which was one of the alliance’s core demands.

The defense denied they meant to end the party’s leadership, arguing the slogan was about moving toward democracy and urging the party not to enforce “dictatorship.” It insisted the alliance had not asked people to adopt any illegal means.

Chow, a barrister who defended herself, cautioned that if the court fails to gatekeep over the reasonable effects of their statements, it could easily become an accomplice by tolerating the crimes committed by those in power.

Albert Ho, their co-defendant and former vigil organizer, earlier entered a guilty plea in a move that typically results in a reduced sentence. His sentencing is pending.

Observers say trial is a bellwether for city’s civil rights

The government earlier said all accused have the right to a fair trial and the courts exercise their power independently. But critics consider this case and its result a litmus test of Hong Kong’s civil rights and judicial independence.

The existence of the alliance and the city’s annual vigil have been considered key characteristics of Hong Kong under China’s “one country, two systems” governing framework in the past, said Eric Lai, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law.

They were symbols of the city’s autonomy, Lai said.

He noted the charge of inciting subversion was commonly used in mainland China to criminalize the acts of human rights lawyers, activists and intellectuals, including late Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo.

“We can see to what extent the court in Hong Kong falls into the level of the party-led judiciary in the mainland through the criminal verdict,” Lai said.

At around 7pm tonight, Wednesday, August 19, firefighters were called to a fire “involving a large quantity of wood.”

The service said the fire broke out at a derelict building on Bella Street in Bolton, and crews used two hose reel jets to extinguish the flames.

They left the blaze after around an hour, and photos from the scene show billowing smoke in the air.

Firefighters at the scene on Bella Street tonight (Image: Supplied)

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: “At around 7.02pm on Wednesday 19th August 2026, three fire engines from Bolton Central, Bolton North and Atherton fire stations were called to attend a fire involving a large quantity of wood at a derelict building on Bella Street, Bolton.

“Crews arrived quickly and used two hose reel jets to extinguish the fire.

“Firefighters made the scene safe before departing after approximately 1 hour.”

Six years after sensationally exiting from royal life and leaving for the United States, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving back to the UK.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are understood to be returning for an ‘extended period’, with Archie and Lilibet set to enrol at a British school. 

But there will be no coming back into the royal fold, and the family is set to move into a non-royal residence.

Experts speculate the couple’s return comes amid the ending of lucrative TV deals, financial constraints, PR mishaps and fractious relationships with Hollywood’s elite, with some suggesting Meghan had ‘burnt her bridges’ in the US. 

Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, are thought to have already enrolled at a British school – and the family are reportedly planning to stay until the children finish their education. 

The couple’s latest move will bring them full circle back to the country they left in 2020. So just what have the couple been up to since they parted from royal life? 

From London to California…and back again 

January 2020: The couple stun Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family by announcing their intention to step back from senior roles, become financially independent and spend more time in North America.

After 10 days of talks between senior family members, it is agreed the couple will no longer be working royals and will give up their ‘Royal Highness’ titles.

March 2020: Harry and Meghan carry out their last official engagement at the annual Commonwealth Day service in London. They move with their young son, Archie, 10 months, to Montecito, California in what papers dub ‘Megxit’.

September 2020: Streaming service Netflix – which made the hit TV drama ‘The Crown’ based on the life of Queen Elizabeth and her family – announces the couple have signed a multi-year deal to produce films and series ranging from children’s shows to scripted content.

November 2020: Meghan announces she has had a miscarriage in an essay for The New York Times. 

She wrote: ‘After changing his [Archie’s] diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right.

‘I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.’ 

December 2020: Meghan and Harry strike a multi-year deal with Spotify through their company Archewell Audio, named after their son. Meghan’s show Archetypes starts airing in 2022.

It comes as: 

Meghan revealed she had experienced racism while in the UK, including someone from the royal household speculating about the colour of their future child’s skin, during a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021

February 2021: The couple announce they are expecting their second child by releasing a photograph taken by a friend showing them relaxing under a tree, while Meghan gently rests her arm on her pregnancy bump.  

On Valentine’s Day, they said in a statement to US Weekly: ‘We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother.’ 

The following day, it is announced that they will give an in-depth interview to US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.

Four days after that announcement, Buckingham Palace releases a statement confirming the couple’s split as working members of the monarchy is permanent and they will lose their royal patronages.

February 2021: Harry tells James Corden, British host of The Late Late Show, that he stepped away from royal duties because the ‘toxic’ British press was destroying his mental health and he wanted to protect his family.

March 2021: Buckingham Palace says it is ‘very concerned’ about a report in The Times newspaper detailing allegations of bullying made by former staff of Harry and Meghan and will launch an investigation.

March 7, 2021:  The couple sit down for a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. Meghan reveals she had experienced racism while in the UK, including someone from the royal household speculating about the colour of their future child’s skin.

Meghan also shared the mental health struggles she had endured, recalling at one point that she ‘just didn’t want to be alive anymore’.

Harry meanwhile said that he felt ‘really let down’ by his father, King Charles and feels distanced from his brother, William. 

Buckingham Palace responds that the issues raised would be taken seriously, while saying that ‘some recollections may vary.’

Harry and Meghan are in Britain when Queen Elizabeth II dies in September 2022. They attend the funeral and other events related to the period of mourning

Harry and Meghan attended events in Whistler, British Columbia, for the Invictus Games training camp, in February 2024

June 4, 2021: Meghan and Harry welcome Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor in honour of her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and late grandmother, Princess Diana.

June 2022: The couple return to the UK to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee amid a prolonged dispute with the Government over police protection. Lilibet celebrates her first birthday in the UK and meets members of the Royal Family.

Late 2022: Harry becomes more involved in projects connected with veterans and mental health initiatives.

September 2022: Harry and Meghan are in Britain when Queen Elizabeth II dies. He attends the funeral and other events related to the period of mourning. 

December 2022: Harry & Meghan, a six-part documentary, launches on Netflix detailing events from their courtship to their engagement and exit from royal life. 

January 2023: Harry releases his explosive memoir, Spare, which becomes one of the biggest selling books of the year. He reveals highly personal details of his childhood, relationship with William, drug use and experience as a member of the Royal Family.

May 2023: Harry attends the coronation of King Charles III, but sits separately from senior working royals. 

June 2023: The couple end their deal with Spotify and Archewell Audio.

August 2023: A source tells People that the couple are ‘really happy together’ in California.

September 2023: The couple were spotted enjoying a secret holiday in Portugal. There was speculation they visited Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, who have a property there.

January 2024: Royal biographer Omid Scobie refutes reports that the couple did not have the permission of Queen Elizabeth II to name their daughter Lilibet. 

According to Robert Hardman, a former member of the queen’s staff said the monarch was ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ after the couple said they had consulted her over the name.

February 2024: Harry briefly returns to Britain after King Charles announces his cancer diagnosis to meet with his father.

Later that month, he and Meghan attend events in Whistler, British Columbia, for the Invictus Games training camp.

May 2024: Harry and Meghan visit Nigeria for a three-day visit.

August 2024: The couple are invited to Colombia and attend events around online safety, young people and women’s issues. 

In May 2024, the couple were invited to on a three-day visit to Nigeria

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With Love, Meghan launched on Netflix in March 2025 – and received largely negative reviews from TV critics

Harry became embroiled in a highly-public dispute with Dr Sophie Chandauka (right), chair of Sentebale, a charity he co-founded in 2006

January 2025: The couple were seen visiting residents displaced by wildfires in California, helping distribute meals and donating supplies.

February 2025: the couple share a kiss on stage at the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada. 

March 4, 2025: With Love, Meghan, launches on Netflix. The show features Meghan welcoming friends and celebrity guests to share cooking, gardening and hosting tips – but has received largely negative reviews from TV critics.

March 25, 2025: Harry quits Sentebale, a charity he co-founded in 2006 to support vulnerable children, after stating the relationship between the board and the chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, had broken down. 

Dr Chandauka in return accused Harry and the former trustees of attempting to remove her because she had raised concerns about bullying, harassment, misogyny and misogynoir.  

April 2, 2025: Meghan launches her lifestyle brand As Ever, originally called American Riviera Orchard. Her  first official product collection, including jams, teas and baking mixes, sell out in under an hour.

June 2025: The As Ever brand is expanded to include alcoholic beverages. 

August 2025: The Charity Commission found no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying, misogyny or harassment.

However, it criticised both sides for allowing the dispute to become public and said the conflict damaged Sentebale’s reputation and risked distracting from its work

April 2026: The couple embark on a four-day visit to Australia. 

July 2026: Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, stayed on the Scottish island 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.

They also had a secret meeting with King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire, when father and son exchanged words in the first public in-person meeting in four years. 

Charles had not seen his youngest grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, since 2022, when they were just three and one. 

Later in the month, Prince Harry surprised his wife Meghan Markle with a FaceTime call during her appearance on MasterChef Australia on Sunday night. 

August 6, 2026: Meghan made quite the splash as she marked her 45th birthday by sharing photos on social media of herself jumping into an outdoor pool – as she thanked her followers ‘for the birthday love’ on social media.