Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are planning to move their family back to the United Kingdom (UK) later this month, more than six years after stepping down as working members of the royal family, British news outlets reported.
The couple’s children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, have enrolled at a British school and are set to begin classes in September, according to the Daily Telegraph, which first reported the story. The family plans to live at a private, non-royal residence outside London, with details of the property and the children’s school withheld for security and privacy reasons.
King Charles III was informed of the couple’s plans Sunday and was not told about them during Harry and Meghan’s visit to the UK last month, according to multiple reports. The king is said to welcome the opportunity to see more of the family in a private, personal capacity, though it is understood there will be no change to the Duke and Duchess’s status as non-working members of the royal family.
What We Know So Far
Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in a process that began with their announcement in January 2020 and concluded with their official departure from senior royal status at the end of March that year, after which they stopped using their HRH styles. The family initially stayed temporarily in Canada before settling permanently in Montecito, California. Archie, who was not yet one year old at the time, made the initial move with his parents, while Lilibet was born after the family had already relocated to California.
Buckingham Palace has a longstanding policy of declining to comment on speculation involving non-working members of the royal family, and a representative for Harry and Meghan also declined to comment on the reports.
Harry has returned to the UK only a handful of times since the family’s departure, mostly without Meghan and their children. Last month’s visit marked the first time Archie and Lilibet had seen their grandfather since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in 2022, with the family spending time with Charles at his Highgrove estate in western England.
Harry’s security arrangements in the UK remain a significant unresolved issue. After stepping down as a working royal, his government funded protective security was downgraded, and he lost a legal battle with the government last year over the decision not to restore full police protection for him and his family while in Britain. A Home Office spokesperson said the government’s protective security system remains rigorous and proportionate, adding that it is longstanding policy not to disclose details of specific security arrangements, since doing so could compromise their integrity and affect the individuals involved. Decisions on royal and public figure security are made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, which includes the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police and the royal household, informed by independent risk assessments.
Harry separately lost his final active lawsuit against British tabloid media last month, after a judge ruled he failed to prove privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail. Court filings showed the publisher’s legal costs in that case totaled 34.5 million pounds, or about 47 million dollars, for which Harry and other plaintiffs were found liable.
What Authorities and Royal Watchers Are Saying
Harry told the BBC after losing last year’s security case that he hoped for reconciliation with his family, citing uncertainty over how much longer his father might live given Charles’s ongoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry said.
Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent, said the news of the planned return would likely upset Prince William, telling the Press Association that Harry’s renewed closeness with their father could make it harder for William to continue avoiding his own reconciliation with Harry.
Why This Matters
The planned move represents a significant shift in a relationship that has been strained since Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal duties, marked by pointed public criticism of palace officials in Harry’s memoir “Spare,” the Netflix documentary “Harry & Meghan,” and the couple’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they raised allegations including insensitivity toward Meghan’s mental health and a remark about the expected skin color of their first child that they characterized as racially charged.
Despite that history, last month’s visit and now the planned relocation suggest a gradual thaw, particularly between Harry and his father, even as tensions with Prince William reportedly remain unresolved. Hunt’s comments suggest the family dynamic may not shift uniformly, with reconciliation potentially advancing on one front of the family while remaining stalled on another.
The unresolved question of Harry’s security arrangements adds a practical dimension to the family’s return, given his stated position that he and his family require police protection specifically because of their status as royal family members, a claim the government has so far declined to accept in the form Harry sought.
What Happens Next
The family is expected to arrive in the UK by the end of August, ahead of the children’s September school start date. Specific details about their residence, the children’s school and their security arrangements are expected to remain undisclosed for the foreseeable future, consistent with the government’s stated policy and the family’s own privacy preferences.
Whether the move leads to further reconciliation between Harry and the wider royal family, particularly Prince William, remains an open question that royal watchers are likely to scrutinize closely as the family settles into life in the UK.
Reporting drawn from Sky News, the Mirror, The Independent, the Daily Telegraph and the Associated Press
