Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to return to the United Kingdom, but will they resume their duties as senior working royals?
News broke on Wednesday, August 19, that Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, planned to move back to England in time for their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, to start school there this fall.
Despite the move back to Harry’s native country, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not expected to pick up any official royal duties.
Harry and Meghan stepped down from their positions in 2020 to pursue a more private life, settling across the pond in Montecito, California.
Us understands that Harry’s father, King Charles III, learned of the couple’s move on Sunday, August 16, and does not intend to alter the Sussexes’ roles.
Harry and Charles, 77, have been estranged since the prince’s move to California. They slowly began mending fences amid the king’s ongoing battle with an undisclosed form of cancer.
“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC in May 2025. “Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Harry and Meghan eventually reunited with Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, last month during a low-key meeting at Highgrove House. The visit served as Archie and Lili’s first time seeing the monarchs in four years.
“[Charles and Camilla] wanted personal time with their grandchildren,” a source exclusively told Us in July. “They wanted it to be lighthearted and positive. The point of the meeting was to spend time with them, and that was the only thing on the agenda.”
Ahead of Harry and Meghan’s full-time move, U.K. prime minister Andy Burnham stated on Thursday, August 20, that any security arrangements were a “private matter.” (Harry filed a lawsuit in 2025 for enhanced protections, which was later shot down in court.)
“It’s a matter for Harry and for Meghan,” Burnham, 56, told the BBC. “We wish them well in the move that they are making.
Harry and Meghan have not publicly addressed their forthcoming move. The Suits alum previously revealed she had one “problem” with living abroad.
“I have a problem with that,” Meghan told The Cut in 2022, claiming she would be unable to personally pick her kids up from school because of rampant public attention. “That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy, that makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child.”
