Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Move Back to the U.K. With Their Kids — After Couple Abandoned Royal Duties and Left for California
Meghan Marke and Prince Harry appear headed back to the U.K.
Aug. 19 2026, Published 5:42 p.m. ET
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appear to have called a major time-out in trying to make it in the U.S. and are reportedly moving back to the UK after quitting the royal family in 2020, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
While the 41-year-old Duke of Sussex and his 45-year-old wife plan to keep their Montecito, California, mansion, the couple will be "establishing a private, non-royal home base in Britain" and even enrolling their two young children in English schools.
Return to England Won't Be A Return to Life as Royals
Prince Harry and Markle are moving back to the UK but not in a royal capacity.
The decision appeared to have come hastily, as Harry's father, King Charles III, was only made aware of the couple's moving plans on Sunday, August 16, People reported when breaking the story about the move on Wednesday, August 19.
The monarch reportedly made it clear to the Sussexes that a return to Britain is not a return to royal life, as they will still be considered private individuals and not part of the working royal fold they left, in keeping with the Sandringham agreement struck with his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The move will reportedly take place later in August, with the couple's son Archie, 7, and daughter Lilibet, 5, enrolling in school in England for the upcoming year.
Camp Sussex Puts Positive Spin on UK Move
The move is expected to happen later in the month of August.
Sources close to the Sussexes claim they have successfully achieved the "half-in, half-out status" within the royal family that they announced in a January 8, 2020, bombshell Instagram post.
The duo said they intended to "step back" as senior working members of the Royal Family and "work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."
They added at the time, "We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honor our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages."
The Sandringham Agreement Remains in Place
Queen Elizabeth gave Prince Harry and Markle a year to change their minds and return to royal life.
Elizabeth firmly rejected the Sussexes' proposed "half-in, half-out" model, making it clear there could be no part-time role representing the royal family while the couple pursued their independent lives.
The late Queen also made Harry and Markle agree to stop using their coveted "HRH" styles as working titles and pulled the plug on their "Sussex Royal" branding, which the pair had hoped to use as they launched their lucrative new life outside the monarchy.
The late monarch, who died in September 2022, gave the couple 12 months to change their minds and return to the royal fold. When they did not, Elizabeth took Harry's honorary military appointments and royal patronages and gave them to current working members of the royal family.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's U.S. Success Was Fleeting
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Prince Harry and Markle ultimately proved to be toxic in Hollywood, losing their megabucks deals.
Harry and Markle initially struck gold after fleeing royal life for the U.S., quickly snapping up megabucks deals with Netflix and Spotify, while the duke reportedly pocketed a staggering $20 million advance for his bombshell 2023 memoir, Spare.
But their biggest hits repeatedly returned to the same explosive subject: their grievances with royal life. Harry unloaded on his famous family in Spare, while the couple aired their complaints in their bombshell 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview and again in their 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
The duo's other attempts to drum up post-royal magic failed to reach the same success, with Markle's two podcasts and Netflix lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, falling apart. The streamer axed its exclusive deal with the Sussexes in August 2025, after Spotify dropped them in 2023.
Meanwhile, Markle's As Ever lifestyle brand has also hit turbulence after Netflix ended its investment in the venture in March, leaving the Diva Duchess to forge ahead on her own.
With Hollywood opportunities all but dead, the Sussexes increasingly turned back to their royal-adjacent roots, embarking on a of Australia in April before Harry returned to Britain in July for the one-year countdown to his 2027 Birmingham Invictus Games
Markle pulled out of the U.K. trip at the last minute amid security concerns, but ultimately made a stealth return to Britain with Archie and Lilibet. The family secretly joined Harry for a private July 10 reunion with Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House, marking the former actress's first time back on British soil since the queen's September 2022 funeral.
