Prince Harry, Meghan returning to U.K. with their children, says British newspaper

Prince Harry and his spouse, Meghan, have determined to return to the UK, however they gained’t resume their roles as working members of the royal household, British information media reported late on Wednesday (August 19, 2026).

The couple’s kids, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, have already enrolled at British faculties and can begin lessons in September, in accordance with the Day by day Telegraph, which broke the story. The household plans to dwell at a non-public, non-royal residence outdoors of London, the newspaper stated.

Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California greater than six years in the past to earn a dwelling by way of profitable contracts with Netflix and Spotify. Though relations with the remainder of the royal household have soured since then, Harry has not too long ago expressed an interest in reconciliation so he may spend extra time together with his father, King Charles III, who’s being handled for an undisclosed type of most cancers.

King Charles was knowledgeable of the couple’s plans on Sunday (August 16) and wasn’t instructed about them throughout Harry and Meghan’s go to to the U.Okay. final month.

Buckingham Palace has a coverage of not commenting on hypothesis about non-working members of the royal household. A consultant for Harry and Meghan declined to remark.

Stormy relationship

Harry and Meghan have had a stormy relationship with the royal household ever since they decamped to a mansion within the unique Southern California enclave of Montecito.

In a collection of interviews and Harry’s memoir “Spare,” the couple stated they left Britain to flee the restrictions of royal life and criticized palace officers for being insensitive to Meghan’s psychological well being whereas alleging that a minimum of one member of the royal household had expressed racist views when she was pregnant with their first little one. Meghan describes herself as biracial.

These tensions had been exacerbated by Harry’s long-running authorized battle with Britain’s tabloid newspapers, which he alleges illegally hacked his telephones and invaded his privateness when he was youthful. The prince has misplaced a collection of lawsuits towards the media, together with one towards the writer of the Day by day Mail, which concluded final month.

The most recent trial has left Harry dealing with a possible invoice for tens of millions of kilos after the court docket dominated he and different plaintiffs within the case had been responsible for the writer’s authorized charges. Related Newspapers has filed paperwork exhibiting that its authorized prices amounted to £34.5 million ($47 million).

Courtroom battles

Harry has additionally been embroiled in a authorized wrangle with the British authorities after a authorities committee refused to authorize police safety for the prince and his household when they’re within the U.Okay. The prince says he and his household want armed police safety as a result of they’re in danger just because they’re members of the royal household, no matter whether or not or not they’re working royals.

After shedding a court docket battle over the safety subject final yr, Harry stated he hoped to rebuild relations together with his household.

“I might love reconciliation with my household. There’s no level in persevering with to struggle anymore,” Harry instructed the BBC. “I don’t know the way for much longer my father has.”

A tentative step towards that reconciliation got here final month when Harry returned to the UK for a collection of charity engagements. Meghan and the youngsters joined Harry for a part of the go to and so they hung out with the king at his Highgrove property in western England. It was the primary time Archie and Lilibet had seen their grandfather because the late Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in 2022.

Whereas Harry has not too long ago met together with his father, there aren’t any indicators of a warming of relations together with his brother, Prince William, the inheritor to the throne.

Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent, stated the shock announcement would make William “apoplectic.”

“Within the brief time period, Harry will be capable to deepen his rapprochement together with his father,” Hunt instructed Britain’s Press Affiliation. “And his presence again residence will make it tougher for his brother to duck a reconciliation.”