Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are packing up and heading back to the UK with their kids. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to leave their cushy Montecito life behind and set up shop at a private property outside London, according to reports. This is the royal boomerang nobody saw coming.
Six years ago, these two made worldwide headlines by ditching their senior royal gigs and bolting for California. Now they are reversing course in spectacular fashion. Their son Prince Archie, now 7, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 5, are reportedly signed up to start at a British school this September, per the Daily Telegraph.
Buckingham Palace has officially confirmed the whole thing, telling CBC News that the couple will continue living as private citizens. No royal duties. No official roles. Just two very famous people moving into a non-royal home near London.
Here is where it gets juicy. King Charles III only found out about this decision on Sunday. That is right, his own son apparently did not bring it up during a family visit to Highgrove just last month in July. That get-together was the first time the King had laid eyes on his grandchildren in person since 2022. The Palace called it a private family occasion. Apparently so private that nobody mentioned the massive relocation plan.
Sources say the King is happy about the prospect of spending more time with his grandchildren in a personal capacity. Prince William and Princess Catherine have also been looped in on the plans.
Let us be crystal clear about one thing. Neither Harry nor Meghan will be resuming any working royal positions. Buckingham Palace made that abundantly plain. Their status is not changing one bit because of this move. They are still non-working royals who happen to be relocating across the Atlantic.
The couple originally announced their intention to step away from senior royal life back in January 2020. They left the UK that March, bounced through Canada for a while, then landed in Montecito, California. Since then, they have been pursuing independent ventures, including media deals and Meghan's lifestyle brand called As Ever.
They are not cutting ties with America entirely, though. The family is keeping their Montecito residence plus a vacation property in Portugal. The UK will reportedly serve as their primary home base for an extended stretch, though nobody is calling it permanent just yet.
The specific location of their new British home and the kids' school remain under wraps for privacy reasons. Security arrangements are also being kept quiet, which is notable given Harry's very public complaints over the years about losing automatic police protection after the couple changed their royal status in 2020. The Home Office has previously stated that protective security decisions go through the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures.
Neither Harry nor Meghan has released any personal statement explaining why they are making this dramatic reversal. All the information so far has come from Palace confirmations and unnamed sources close to the situation. The silence is deafening, and royal watchers everywhere are losing their minds.
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