Why did Harry and Meghan come back?<\/a> How long are they planning to stay? What\u2019s the state of their relationship with the royal family after their accusatory interviews and Harry\u2019s no-holds-barred memoir, \u201cSpare\u201d? Did Meghan really get offered that part in \u201cThe Gentlemen\u201d TV series?<\/p>\nIn an effort to answer some of these questions, we enlisted two royal experts \u2014 the kind with ears to the ground, and real sources with insider insight \u2014 to break down what\u2019s really happening with the Sussexes right now.<\/p>\n
Did Harry and Meghan\u2019s U.K. return blindside everyone?<\/p>\n
\u201cLike most royal watchers, I was stunned,\u201d said Christopher Andersen, journalist and author of several bestselling royal biographies, including this year\u2019s \u201cKate!\u201d about the current Princess of Wales. \u201cCertainly, the red carpet was not rolled out for them. No invitation had been extended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andersen believes that Harry and Meghan\u2019s decision to return to the U.K. was an impulsive move based on a misreading of King Charles\u2019 state of mind when they briefly met during a trip to the U.K. over the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems that during their recent visit with the King in July, Harry and Meghan misinterpreted his grandfatherly overtures to Archie and Lilibet as some sort of sign that they would be welcomed back into the royal fold,\u201d said Andersen. \u201cBut instead, the King and especially Prince William were blindsided by the Sussexes\u2019 abrupt decision to return to the U.K.\u201d<\/p>\n
King Charles III has reiterated that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, remain non-working members of the royal family following their return to the United Kingdom. (Sept. 8, 2026)<\/p>\n
AP Video<\/p>\n
Dan Wakeford, the British former editor-in-chief of People and Us Weekly who now runs his own site Celebrity Intelligence, was less gobsmacked than most.<\/p>\n
He said he felt a \u201csmall, smug \u2018I told you so,\u2019\u201d when the news broke. \u201cWe reported at Celebrity Intelligence back in April that Harry was edging home and that Meghan was considering acting again,\u201d Wakeford said. \u201cWhat surprised me was how quietly they pulled it off behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n
How long will Harry and Meghan stay in England?<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that Harry and Meghan have enrolled their kids in school, neither Wakeford nor Andersen thinks this is a permanent move.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatch the property, not the press. They\u2019ve kept Montecito and Portugal, which is the celebrity version of keeping your ex\u2019s number,\u201d said Wakeford, referring to the couple\u2019s 9-bedroom California home and their recently revealed vacation house in Europe. \u201cMy read is that this is an open-ended trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
He speculates that two factors could swing this one way or the other: If they get their government-funded security back, and whether the two brothers ever end their feud.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf William doesn\u2019t make up with Harry, I can\u2019t see them staying beyond the King\u2019s lifetime,\u201d Wakeford said.<\/p>\n
Andersen gives them an even shorter timeline: He suspects they\u2019ll be headed back stateside before the holidays.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sussexes have not been invited to spend Christmas with the rest of the royals at Sandringham, whereas the rest of the family RSVP\u2019d months ago,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the kind of obvious, major snub that Harry and Meghan can only find hurtful and humiliating.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday, People reported that the Sussexes will be spending both American Thanksgiving and Christmas with Meghan\u2019s mother, Doria Ragland, at a location of her choosing but likely California.<\/p>\n
Is the Sussexes\u2019 England move more about business or family?<\/p>\n
Andersen believes the Sussex brand is \u201cin desperate need of a refresh,\u201d and sees this move as an attempt to recalibrate their public image and make money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sussexes\u2019 commercial appeal hinges solely on their connection to the world\u2019s biggest global brand: Britain\u2019s monarchy. But for years now they have been living an entirely separate life in Montecito, far beyond the royal orbit,\u201d he said. \u201cAs time goes by, that vital link to the magic and mystique of England\u2019s royal family continues to fade \u2014 and along with it the Sussexes\u2019 big media deals and various money-making schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says that when they arrived back in the U.K., \u201cthey hit the ground running, reaching out to business contacts that they had left behind when they departed for California.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"li-royal-harry-meghan-uk.jpg\"](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
Meghan Markle in a scene from her show \u201cWith Love, Meghan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Netflix<\/p>\n
Was Meghan really going to act in Netflix\u2019s \u201cThe Gentlemen\u201d?<\/p>\n
Shortly after news of the move broke, a story emerged that the real reason the family were moving back to the U.K. was so that Meghan could return to acting with a part in Guy Ritchie\u2019s \u201cThe Gentlemen,\u201d which premiered its second season around that time. Journalist Tina Brown claimed that the offer was \u201cwithdrawn\u201d after \u201cintense backlash\u201d to Meghan playing the role.<\/p>\n
The truth, according to Wakeford? \u201cThere really were conversations with a casting agent about a part, but that was it: one conversation, not an offer,\u201d he said. \u201cHer camp had reasons to let the story run. \u2018In demand for a Netflix drama\u2019 beats another headline about her jam business. It also let her look like she was steering the move rather than just tagging along with Harry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why was the official royal reaction so cold?<\/p>\n
Soon after Harry and Meghan moved back to the U.K., the palace sent a letter on behalf of King Charles to government officials in which he made it clear that his younger son and his wife were not back to rejoin the family business, and that they were still private citizens who did not represent the royal family in any way.<\/p>\n
It was hardly the reaction of a father welcoming his long-lost son home, but it didn\u2019t surprise Andersen, who noted the \u201cyou\u2019re in or you\u2019re out\u201d hard line that the late Queen Elizabeth took with Meghan and Harry. \u201cAs warm and cuddly as the King sometimes seems these days, he is a creature of duty and obligation. King Charles has the same unbending, rule-following attitude the late queen had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wakeford takes a similar view.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The letter) was the palace equivalent of a warm hug and a firm handshake. Charles wants his grandchildren nearby, but the institution learned in 2020 that ambiguity is expensive,\u201d he said. \u201cThe letter made sure nobody, from the Home Office to a charity looking for a royal patron, mistook living nearby for a return to duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do William or Kate have any interest in reconciliation?<\/p>\n
If Prince Harry was hoping he could mend fences with his brother while living nearby, it\u2019s not looking promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cWilliam is livid. The last thing he needs at the moment is Harry and Meghan on his doorstep, knocking to get back into the royal family\u2019s good graces,\u201d said Andersen. \u201cFor her part, Kate tried valiantly for years to bring the brothers together. She was always very close to Harry, who called her the sister he never had.\u201d<\/p>\n
She gave up, he said, when Prince Harry gave an interview last year \u2014 in which he shared his hopes for familial reconciliation \u2014 claiming he didn\u2019t know how long his father, who\u2019s been treated for cancer since 2024, had left to live.<\/p>\n
Since Kate had recently battled cancer herself, \u201cHarry\u2019s remark just seemed incredibly thoughtless, even cruel,\u201d said Andersen. \u201cThat was the burning of the final bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
How is Harry and Meghan\u2019s relationship with the British press?<\/p>\n
One of the primary reasons the couple gave for leaving the U.K. was the vicious tabloid press: Meghan said that the relentlessly negative coverage and her resulting unhappiness in England caused her to consider suicide, while Prince Harry has spent the past several years suing the major tabloids, with varying results.<\/p>\n
Has anything changed six years on?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.K. tabloids tend to run anything Harry and Meghan do through a negative filter, and the couple don\u2019t do much to stop that happening,\u201d Wakeford said.<\/p>\n
Case in point: Meghan\u2019s decision to post a video of her family frolicking in their new home amid geographic details that enabled the press to figure out where they were living. \u201cA mistake, but an understandable one. Meghan\u2019s whole post-royal model is controlling her own image, and Instagram is where she does it,\u201d said Wakeford. \u201cA photographer who has shot the royals for three decades told us the pack worked out the location from that video within hours. Turning off the comments doesn\u2019t turn off the countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bigger blunder, Wakeford said, was the timing; it came right as the couple were trying to argue for publicly funded security. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to share your country walks while telling the Home Office your whereabouts are a security risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wakeford has been surprised by how quickly the British public has \u201chardened\u201d when it comes to who should be paying for these non-working royals\u2019 security while in the U.K., something that\u2019s currently under official review. \u201cGoodwill toward the children is real. Patience with the adults is thinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the strategy behind the couple\u2019s public appearances?<\/p>\n
Until this week, most of Harry and Meghan\u2019s U.K. outings had been notable for three reasons: His always seemed official, hers were low-key and personal, and they were always separate.<\/p>\n
Wakeford noted that this behaviour has cued \u201cthe \u2018living separate lives\u2019 stories, every one resting on unnamed sources,\u201d but he doesn\u2019t believe it\u2019s evidence of trouble within the marriage. Instead, he sees it is a deliberate strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBritain has never really warmed to Meghan. Harry is another matter. People here still remember the boy walking behind his mother\u2019s coffin,\u201d Wakeford said. \u201cWhen he turns up alone, the headline is about sick children and veterans. When they arrive together, the headline is about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believes Harry is \u201crebuilding his standing, one engagement at a time,\u201d while Meghan focuses on her As Ever brand and her own friends from before she was a royal.<\/p>\n
The Star, simplified<\/p>\n
Breaking news, interactive polls, video, and voice notes. Star stories you\u2019ll want to share, delivered where you\u2019re already chatting. Follow the Star on WhatsApp<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s Harry and Meghan\u2019s long-term plan?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the public who\u2019s confused; the royal watchers say people who know Meghan and Harry in private are equally unsure about their long game.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who have known them find it hard to make sense of it all,\u201d said Wakeford.<\/p>\n
There are a few reasons for the couple to stay in England through 2027: One is that the Invictus Games will take place in Birmingham next July. The other is that August 31, 2027, marks the 30th anniversary of Princess Diana\u2019s death, and it\u2019s rumoured that Prince Harry will be participating in a documentary about his mother.<\/p>\n
Wakeford said the documentary is real, as is Harry\u2019s long-standing desire to come home and be close to his family once more. But he believes this decision isn\u2019t just his.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really comes down to whether Meghan wants to stay. They have very different goals and are driven by different things, so it depends on which of them compromises,\u201d Wakeford said. \u201cFor now, Meghan seems to have compromised for Harry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No, you\u2019re not reading an old article from 2017 about the first joint outing the pair made after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":934085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75],"class_list":["post-934084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}