Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are returning to the UK after six years in California, bringing their children Archie and Lilibet with them. Learn about their plans and the impact on the royal family.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to the United Kingdom from California in 2026, marking a homecoming after six years abroad and a period of legal and family dispute; the pair met the King and Queen Camilla at Highgrove in July and enrolled their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in British schools.
Ultimo aggiornamento: 20 agosto 2026.
Their return matters because it affects the balance between private life and public duty for the couple formerly known as working royals, raises renewed questions about protective arrangements with the Home Office and reshapes relations within the royal household following past exchanges that included the Sandringham summit and a controversial memoir.
The move has implications for ongoing public debate about royal security, the household’s internal dynamics and the Sussexes’ commercial activities with firms such as Netflix and Spotify.
Family meetings and recent visits
The Sussexes visited King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove in July, their first meeting with the monarch in four years, a step which was described by observers as a possible opening to reconciliation; the couple’s interactions with other family members have remained mixed, with no reconciliation reported between Prince William and Prince Harry.
The brief return included arrangements around family time and schooling decisions for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet signalling a commitment to integrating aspects of family life into their renewed UK presence while retaining properties abroad.
Security arrangements and legal history
Security remained central to the return, following a legal battle with the Home Office that culminated in Harry losing an appeal in 2026 about state-provided protection levels; the couple had been financing private security in California and faced uncertainty over comparable arrangements in the United Kingdom. Officials have described the protective security system as rigorous and proportionate, but precise details of any reassessment or new provisions were not disclosed publicly, leaving open questions about the level and funding of protection for the couple and their children while resident in the United Kingdom.
Public roles, commercial deals and future plans
Since stepping back from senior royal duties after a Sandringham summit that set the terms of their departure, the Sussexes cultivated media and philanthropic projects, signing deals with Netflix and Spotify though those ventures produced mixed results in public reception; Harry’s memoir, Spare published in 2026, further complicated family relations. Meghan is expected to continue operating her lifestyle brand, As Ever, from the United Kingdom, while Harry has signalled intent to remain involved with initiatives including the Invictus Games schedule for the United Kingdom, and the couple plans to retain homes in California and Portugal, maintaining a transatlantic lifestyle.
Questions remain about long-term roles within the royal framework, the status of the couple’s security provision, and the state of relations with Prince William and other senior royals following earlier disagreements that involved references to Sandringham and past encounters with Queen Elizabeth Prime Minister Andy Burnham commented that security was a private matter, while the family connection to the monarch and the timing of the Highgrove meeting underscored the personal as well as public dimensions of the return.
