Princess Anne likely predicted the return of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the UK after six years living in the US, as author Katie Nicholl revealed the stern comments the no-nonsense royal made to the Sussexes in 2020. 

According to Nicholl, who penned The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, the 76-year-old Princess has “always had a good relationship” with Harry, 41, however, made a “coded message” about his decision to step down as a senior working royal with Meghan Markle, 45, in 2020. 

“Harry has always had a very good relationship with his aunt Princess Anne,” Nicoll told Hello.

“This relationship has certainly been tested and when I sat down with her to interview her back in 2020, just after Megxit, she gave me a very sort of coded message, which was, it’s all very well the new younger royals doing things differently, but they shouldn’t try and reinvent the wheel.”

Nicholl said that she interpreted Anne’s words as a warning to the Sussexes, and that the Princess Royal likely predicted that things wouldn’t work out as planned for the couple in the US. 

“I took that very much to be a word of warning, a cautionary word to Meghan and Harry that yes, of course there needs to be changes, but, but not to do anything too drastically,” Nicholl said.

“I think she will be one who has sort of sat back, predicted all of this, not been surprised that they’re coming back somewhat with their tails between their legs because things haven’t worked in America.”

While Anne is likely to give the Sussexes the “cold shoulder” to begin with, the author believes that she will ultimately be forgiving and kind towards her nephew. 

“Even if there would briefly be a cold shoulder, I think Anne will put her best foot forward and follow the example of the Queen in being magnanimous and forgiving – she’s a good aunt in that respect.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle touched down via private jet at Birmingham Airport at midday on Wednesday (local time) as they marked the first day of their new life in the UK with their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five.

It is understood they will be moving to the historic market town of Stow-on-the-Wold and have paid around £12 million and £15 million (about AUD$24.7 million to AUD$30.9 million) for a home there, according to royal reporter Tom Sykes. 

Princess Anne, therefore, will arguably be the closest royal neighbour in proximity, as she lives at her Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire with her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence.

Anne’s children, son Peter Phillips, his new wife, Harriet Phillips, and daughter Zara Tindall and her husband Mike Tindall also live on the 700-acre property.

Harry and Meghan were not invited to Phillips’ wedding in June because they “haven’t spoken for several years and have simply lost touch” according to a close friend.

Meanwhile, Harry’s other cousin, Princess Beatrice, also has a home in the area, where she lives with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and their children. 

Little is known about the current state of Harry’s relationship with Beatrice; however, he is understood to have remained close to her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, who primarily lives in Portugal with her young family.

Harry himself acknowledged the extent of the divisions within the Royal Family during a bombshell BBC interview last year, admitting that some relatives may “never forgive him” following the publication of his explosive memoir, Spare, in 2023 and a string of tell-all interviews with Meghan about their experiences within the Firm.

“There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,” Harry said.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. I’ve always, you know, there’s no point in continuing to fight any more.”

In the same interview, the father-of-two, who had just lost a legal battle to receive taxpayer-funded security in his home country, said he “can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”

Neither the Sussexes nor any member of the Royal Family has publicly confirmed their arrival in the UK.