A private jet out of Van Nuys, California, touched down at Birmingham International Airport at roughly 11:56 a.m. on August 26, 2026, and with it Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were back in Britain — this time to stay. Their arrival came only days after word emerged that the family planned to give up life in the United States and make the U.K. home again.
Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, made the journey alongside their parents. Asked about the family’s plans, a spokesman for the duke and duchess said, “This is not something we would comment on.” No police officers appeared to be present as the group departed the airport, according to a source who spoke to the BBC.
There will be no return to royal duties. The Sussexes are expected to settle as non-working royals at a private home beyond London, believed to be somewhere in the Cotswolds, and will carry out no official engagements for the monarchy.
Six Years After the Exit
Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, walked away from royal duties at the start of 2020 and relocated to California that March. Their departure was hammered out at the Sandringham summit that same year, where they gave up senior royal status and stopped using their HRH styles. None of that is being revisited: they remain private citizens in a non-royal residence, and no “half-in, half-out” deal is thought to be under discussion — the very compromise the late Queen Elizabeth II turned down at Sandringham.
King Charles learned of the plan earlier in August, and so did the Prince and Princess of Wales. The family had visited the king at Highgrove in Gloucestershire in July, though the relocation is understood not to have been raised then. Not since the 2022 funeral of Queen Elizabeth II had the couple set foot on British soil at the same time. Charles is understood to be glad of the chance for more private time with his son’s family.
School Places Signal a Permanent Move
What separates this from a long holiday is the children’s schooling. Both Archie and Lilibet have places at a school whose term starts next week, and reports before the family landed indicated the two had been signed up to begin classes in Britain in September.
Lucy Powell, the education secretary, said she learned of the relocation through social media and the news “like everybody else,” calling the decision to enroll the children a vote of confidence in British schools. The couple are expected to keep their California property as well as their home in Portugal, where they spent part of the summer.
Security Questions Left Unanswered
Who protects the family in Britain, and who pays for it, has driven much of the debate since the move became public. The Sussexes have no automatic right to taxpayer-funded protection while in the U.K., and nothing about any arrangement has been disclosed.
In 2025, Harry lost a court fight over his family’s level of protection in Britain after asking judges to reverse a ruling that scaled back his security once he left royal duties for the U.S. Those judgments rest with Ravec, the body that sets protection for royals and other high-profile figures. The Home Office says the country’s protective security system is rigorous but declines to address individual cases, on the grounds that revealing specifics would weaken it. The dispute is why Harry flew to London in early July on his own, without Meghan and the children, departing from what he had originally intended; the family joined him later that month at Highgrove.
A large bill is also on the horizon. The High Court in July threw out the privacy claim Harry and six other public figures had brought against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail. Costs for the seven claimants could reach £34.5 million, with a first installment of £9.54 million payable by August 28.
A Rift That Has Not Healed
Harry and Prince William remain estranged, a split rooted in the public criticism the Sussexes have aimed, in the years since their departure from Britain, at Charles, Camilla, William and Catherine, the Princess of Wales. Observers of the feud suggest the Prince of Wales has not forgiven his brother and that the wound is still raw.
Speaking to the PA news agency, former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the return sets up the long-range possibility of two competing courts and leaves William with less room to sidestep a reconciliation. “The surprise return of Harry and Meghan is likely to have left William apoplectic,” Hunt said. Speaking to the BBC, Harry has stated a wish to mend relations with the Royal Family.
Their business affairs have shifted too. Netflix in August 2025 swapped out the overall production deal it struck with the couple in 2020 for a multiyear first-look agreement covering Archewell Productions, removing the exclusivity of the earlier contract — the same treatment the streamer gave the Obamas’ Higher Ground deal. Meghan had been in early discussions about joining the third season of the Netflix show “The Gentlemen,” which would have been her first substantial acting job since marrying Harry. Royal biographer Tina Brown reported on August 22 that she was no longer in the running.
“The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward,” Brown wrote. Neil Sean, a correspondent close to director Guy Ritchie, disputes that any offer ever existed. Meanwhile, Harry will step down on September 30 from the trustee role he has held for the past 10 years at the conservation charity African Parks. Retrospectives on the couple’s American years have concluded that while they scored some wins in show business, their Hollywood chapter proved short-lived.
Visibility has never been the problem. On February 25, the pair visited the QuestScope youth center at Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, home to displaced Syrians. A visit to Australia earlier in 2026 set off arguments about whether they were working, earning or imitating the royal role they surrendered. Starting next week, with both children in British classrooms, that argument plays out on home ground.
