Prince Harry and Meghan plan UK return, but stay outside royal duties

Prince Harry and Meghan are reportedly preparing to move back to Britain with their children. The plan signals a personal reset, but not a return to royal duties.

In Short

• Buckingham Palace and the couple's representatives declined comment on the reports
• King Charles reportedly learnt of the plan only on Sunday
• Harry wants reconciliation as Charles undergoes treatment for an undisclosed cancer

Prince Harry and Meghan have decided to return to the United Kingdom, but will not resume their roles as working members of the royal family, according to British media reports late on Wednesday. The Daily Telegraph, which first reported the development, said the couple's children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have enrolled at British schools and will start classes in September.

The newspaper said the family plans to live at a private, non-royal residence outside London. Buckingham Palace, which does not comment on speculation involving non-working royals, declined to comment. A representative for Harry and Meghan also declined to comment.

Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties and moved to California more than six years ago, seeking to earn a living through contracts with Netflix and Spotify. Relations with the royal family have remained strained since then, though Harry has recently spoken of wanting a reconciliation so he can spend more time with his father, King Charles III, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer.

According to the report, Charles was informed of the couple's plans on Sunday and had not been told during Harry and Meghan's visit to the UK last month. That visit marked a tentative step towards reconciliation. Harry returned for a series of charity engagements, and Meghan and the children joined him for part of the trip. They also spent time with the king at his Highgrove estate in western England. It was the first time Archie and Lilibet had seen their grandfather since Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee in 2022.

The couple's relationship with the royal family has been troubled since they moved to Montecito in Southern California. In interviews and in Harry's memoir, Spare, they said they left Britain to escape the restrictions of royal life. They also criticised palace officials, saying Meghan's mental health was not handled sensitively, and alleged that at least one member of the royal family had expressed racist views when she was pregnant with their first child. Meghan has described herself as biracial.

The tensions have also been sharpened by Harry's legal disputes with Britain's tabloid press. He has alleged that newspapers illegally hacked his phones and invaded his privacy when he was younger. He has lost a series of media-related cases, including one against the publisher of the Daily Mail that ended last month. That case could leave him facing legal costs of millions of pounds after the court ruled that he and other claimants were liable for the publisher's fees. Associated Newspapers has said its legal costs totalled 34.5 million pounds, or USD 47 million.

Harry has also been in a legal fight with the British government after a committee refused to approve police protection for him and his family during visits to the UK. He has argued that they need armed police protection because they remain at risk by virtue of being members of the royal family, whether or not they are working royals. After losing that case last year, Harry told the BBC: "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore. I don't know how much longer my father has."

While Harry has recently met his father, there is no sign yet of improved ties with his brother, Prince William, the heir to the throne. Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent, said the development would make William "apoplectic". "In the short term, Harry will be able to deepen his rapprochement with his father," Hunt told Britain's Press Association. "And his presence back home will make it harder for his brother to duck a reconciliation." The reported move, if it goes ahead, would bring Harry and Meghan back to Britain while keeping them outside the circle of working royals.

With PTI Inputs

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