Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan, and their children are moving back to Britain in the upcoming weeks, according to two people familiar with their decision. The move comes six years after they left for the United States amid a clash with other members of the royal family.
The surprise announcement ends a self-imposed exile for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that began amid anger and recriminations that brought international attention to warring factions inside Buckingham Palace.
Prince Harry was stripped of his honorary military titles and royal patronage appointments in 2021, a year after announcing that he and his wife would “step back” from their official duties. In some tabloids, their departure for America was called “Megxile.”
The yearslong feud continued across the Atlantic as Harry wrote a tell-all book, “Spare”; the couple gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey; and several efforts at reconciliation failed. For years, Harry accused Buckingham Palace of preventing his family’s return to Britain by refusing to provide them with armed protection.
King Charles III was informed of the decision on Sunday, one of the people said, adding that the family’s move was not discussed when the duke and duchess visited Britain and met with the king this summer.
There will be no change in Harry and Meghan’s status as non-working royals, and they will remain as private individuals while they reside in Britain, both of the people said.
Representatives for Buckingham Palace declined to comment and a spokesman for Harry and Meghan did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
Harry and Meghan have two children, Archie, 7 and Lilibet, 5, both of whom have spent most of their lives far from their royal relatives. One person said the duke and duchess had enrolled their children in school in time for them to start in September.
It was not clear where the family will live, but it appeared likely that the family would not return to royal accommodations. One person familiar with the decision said that the family’s status would not change, in keeping with the current arrangement.
Harry and Meghan’s return is sure to spark a news feeding frenzy in a country where the royal family and its many dramas have polarized the public but still command intense interest.
Harry has repeatedly blamed the news frenzy surrounding his mother, Princess Diana, for her death. And he has complained that a similar crush of attention by the aggressive tabloids in Britain was devastating to his family.
The announcement on Wednesday raised the prospect of a possible reconciliation between Harry and his family, which had seemed distant as recently as last month, when Harry and Meghan met privately with the king and queen at Highgrove House in the Cotswolds region, about 100 miles west of London.
That meeting appeared to produce little public evidence of a rapprochement. But one of the people familiar with Harry’s upcoming return to Britain said the king welcomed the chance to spend more time with his younger son and his family.
Less is known about the possibility that Harry and his brother, William, might repair the breach between them. In “Spare,” Harry described his brother as “my arch nemesis,” and the brothers’ relationship is said to have remained icy.
The prospect of some comity returning to the royal family is sure to be welcomed by a once-rock-solid institution that has seemed to be in a state of turmoil for much of the past several decades.
In 2018, the wedding of Harry and Meghan, an American actress, captivated the world and once again thrust a young woman into the global spotlight. It came seven years after William married Kate and more than two decades after Diana was killed in an auto accident while being pursued by paparazzi.
Harry and Meghan’s marriage was initially greeted as the beginning of a new era for the monarchy, described as a modern future for a royal family rooted firmly in the past. The wedding echoed the energy of Diana’s own in 1981, which was watched around the world.
But the fights that resulted in the palace walls after Harry and Meghan married became the subject of enormous speculation and intrigue in the British tabloids. The couple would later cite that pressure as a central factor in their desire to leave Britain.
That decision became nothing less than a messy divorce, with claims and counterclaims flying back and forth as the two sides negotiated in public. When Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping away from their duties, the palace responded that “discussions with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage” and that “these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”
Distance did not appear to ease the ill will.
In the Oprah interview, Meghan said members of the royal family had not wanted their unborn child to be a prince or princess and had expressed concerns about how dark the color of the baby’s skin would be. She also said she had contemplated suicide before the couple left for America.
The interview and Harry’s book both appeared to deepen the rift between Harry and his father and brother. So did a dispute over whether Harry and his family would receive the kind of publicly financed security that other royals are afforded in Britain.
For the past several years, Harry has argued that his family could not return to Britain because of a decision by the government to no longer provide security because of his status as a non-working royal. In a series of lawsuits, Harry contended that he was being denied the protection illegally.
The courts ruled against him as recently as last year. But in December, reports emerged that the question of his security was once again under review. It is unclear whether that issue has been resolved and whether it played a role in the decision to move back.