NEW DELHI: Six years after swapping royal duties for California sunshine, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly heading back to Britain. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to move to the UK this month for an extended stay, but will not return to official royal duties.
According to reports by People magazine and The Telegraph, the couple will move with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. The children are expected to begin school in Britain in September.
A source close to Harry and Meghan confirmed the reports. Harry’s spokesperson and Buckingham Palace have not commented.
The move is not expected to signal a return to working royal life. Harry and Meghan will remain non-working royals under the arrangement agreed with the late Queen Elizabeth II when they stepped down from their official duties in March 2020.
The couple are also not expected to live in a royal residence.
Harry and Meghan married at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their relationship with the royal family, however, became increasingly strained before they announced their decision to step back from royal duties in January 2020.
They formally left their roles in March that year and subsequently moved to the US.
The couple settled in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, California, where they bought a 16-bedroom property reportedly for around $14.7 million.
Since leaving Britain, Harry and Meghan have built an independent media career, including television interviews, a Netflix documentary series and Meghan’s lifestyle projects. Harry’s memoir, Spare, also became a bestseller.
Their public discussions about life within the royal family have repeatedly generated headlines and deepened tensions with senior royals.
Harry’s relationship with his elder brother, Prince William, remains particularly strained.
In Spare, Harry detailed disagreements with William, including an alleged physical confrontation in 2019. The brothers have remained largely estranged despite signs of improvement in Harry’s relationship with their father, King Charles.
Harry and Charles met last month during the Sussexes’ visit to Britain, giving the king an opportunity to see Archie and Lilibet for the first time since 2022.
The relationship between father and son had already shown signs of thawing, although reports suggest Charles only learned about Harry and Meghan’s latest plans to return to Britain on Sunday.
Harry’s security arrangements in Britain have also been a longstanding source of tension.
After stepping down as a working royal, he lost the automatic police protection previously provided to him in the UK. Harry challenged the decision in court but lost his appeal last year.
He has previously said that concerns over security made it difficult for him to bring his family to Britain.
The family’s extended return now marks a significant shift from their life in California, but not a return to the royal front line. With Archie and Lilibet due to start school in Britain, the Sussexes appear to be opening a new chapter in the UK while keeping their non-working royal status firmly intact.