Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife Meghan are planning to return to live in the United Kingdom this month, six years after leaving for the United States, British media reported on Wednesday. The couple and their two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are expected to relocate to a private, non-royal residence outside London. The children have already been enrolled in a British school ahead of the September term, marking what would be a significant shift in the family's daily life after half a decade in Montecito, California.
King Charles III was informed of the decision on Sunday, and is said to welcome the opportunity to see more of his family in a personal capacity. The Prince and Princess of Wales have also been told of the planned move. However, the return will bring no change in the couple's standing: Harry and Meghan stepped down as working members of the royal family in 2020 and will remain private individuals. The Sussexes are expected to keep their homes in California and in Portugal, where they holidayed earlier this summer, and neither Harry nor Meghan has confirmed the move officially.
The announcement comes after a rare family reunion last month, when Harry and Meghan visited King Charles and Queen Camilla — the first time the king had seen his grandchildren in person since 2022. Harry had previously expressed a desire for reconciliation, telling the BBC after losing a legal challenge over his UK security arrangements in May: "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious." He described security as "always the sticking point," and said concerns over protection had previously prevented him from bringing Meghan and the children to London events.
The return also raises questions about Harry's relationship with his elder brother, Prince William. The two brothers, once famously close, have had little contact in recent years, a rift deepened by Harry's 2023 memoir "Spare," which contained candid and at times damaging accounts of life within the royal family. Whether proximity will ease those tensions remains to be seen.
The couple's finances and public profile have evolved considerably since their departure. A reported $100 million, five-year deal with Netflix signed in 2020 led to several projects, including Meghan's lifestyle series "With Love, Meghan," and the pair signed a fresh multi-year deal with the streaming platform last year. An earlier $20 million podcast arrangement with Spotify ended in 2023 after just 12 episodes. Harry has long cited the British press as a central grievance, having blamed media intrusion for contributing to the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash. Last month, he and six co-claimants, including singer Elton John and civil rights campaigner Doreen Lawrence, lost a privacy lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail, with their claims dismissed in their entirety by the presiding judge.