News of the couple\u2019s decision to jump back across the pond was met with surprise, though Harry has been gently laying groundwork for reconciliation in the 2\u00bd years since his father, King Charles III, was diagnosed with cancer<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no point continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious. I don\u2019t know how much longer my father has,\u201d Harry said during a candid 2025 interview with the BBC<\/a>. <\/p>\n Months later, Harry briefly reconnected with Charles after the pair had gone 19 months without meeting in person. He has since met with his father periodically, while he and his older brother, Prince William, remain estranged. <\/p>\n Then, in their most significant step toward reconciliation since their royal departure, Harry, Meghan and their two children reunited with Charles and Queen Camilla during a July visit to the U.K. \u2014 marking the first time the couple had been in Britain together since attending Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s funeral in September 2022. <\/p>\n The couple announced their plans to relocate their family back to the U.K. just weeks later. <\/p>\n Both Charles and Camilla as well as William and Catherine were privately informed of the decision. Charles reportedly welcomes the opportunity to spend more time with Harry and his family, while William, the heir to the throne, has yet to comment on the news. <\/p>\n Why did Harry and Meghan move to the U.S.? <\/p>\n When stepping away from their roles as senior members of the royal family in January 2020, the couple announced<\/a> that, following \u201cmonths of reflection,\u201d they would \u201ccarve out a progressive new role within (the royal) institution.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe intend to step back as \u2018senior\u2019 members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,\u201d their statement continued. <\/p>\n The couple moved to California later that year and spent the following years explaining their decision to step back from royal life through high-profile interviews, a Netflix docuseries and a memoir<\/a>, in which they made allegations of bullying, racism against Meghan and a lack of support for her mental health struggles. <\/p>\n Buckingham Palace responded at the time, saying in a statement that \u201csome recollections may vary\u201d but that the accusations were being \u201ctaken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.\u201d <\/p>\n The couple\u2019s decision to publicly air their grievances fueled further fallout with the royal family. And when the revelations eventually quieted, they were left to prove that their life in America could stand on more than royal drama. <\/p>\n Several high-profile ventures \u2014 including massive deals with Spotify and Netflix \u2014 failed to deliver the success they sought, leaving their both their financial and professional ambitions seemingly unfulfilled, while their family relationships remained fractured. <\/p>\n So, did Harry and Meghan\u2019s American dream actually deliver? <\/p>\n Harry and Meghan\u2019s American dream slips away Harry and Meghan\u2019s American venture started off strong. <\/p>\n The couple\u2019s explosive two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey drew an audience of more than 49.1 million worldwide, per Reuters<\/a>. They maintained global attention while adding to the conversation surrounding their decision to leave behind their royal roles. <\/p>\n Shortly after stepping down from royal duties, the couple signed a $100 million deal with Netflix to produce an undisclosed number of TV series, documentaries, children\u2019s programs and other content.<\/p>\n Their debut project with the mega-streamer, the bombshell docuseries \u201cHarry & Meghan,\u201d reached 28 million households during its first four days, becoming Netflix\u2019s most-watched documentary debut at the time, per CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n Harry\u2019s memoir \u201cSpare,\u201d which arrived on the heels of the docuseries, offered another tell-all account of the challenges of life as a working royal, including details about his strained family relationships. The memoir also drew enormous interest and enjoyed record-breaking sales<\/a>. <\/p>\n But when the couple moved away from tell-all projects, public interest began to wane. <\/p>\n None of the couple\u2019s subsequent Netflix projects matched the success of their debut docuseries. \u201cWith Love, Meghan,\u201d \u201cHeart of Invictus<\/a>,\u201d \u201cPolo\u201d and \u201cLive to Lead\u201d attracted modest viewership, leading the streamer to shift its arrangement with the couple to a reduced \u201cfirst look<\/a>\u201d deal in March. <\/p>\n And their $25 million multiyear Spotify deal was abruptly severed<\/a> in 2023 after the couple produced relatively little content and Meghan\u2019s podcast \u201cArchetypes\u201d proved to be a commercial disappointment. <\/p>\n After the deal fell apart, Bill Simmons, a Spotify executive and prominent podcaster, bluntly dismissed the couple as \u201cthe grifters.\u201d <\/p>\n Meghan tried again with a second podcast, \u201cConfessions of a Female Founder,\u201d produced by podcast network Lemonada Media, but it too failed to gain significant traction. Meanwhile, Harry\u2019s own podcast ideas \u2014 including one focused on childhood trauma and controversial figures \u2014 never came to fruition.<\/p>\n Other projects from the couple suffered a similar fate. <\/p>\n Meghan\u2019s lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, which she later rebranded as As Ever, failed to make a significant mark on the zeitgeist and faced lackluster reviews<\/a> for its products. <\/p>\n Her most recent project, \u201cCookie Queens<\/a>,\u201d a documentary about Girl Scouts and their ambitions to sell cookies, fell short at the box office after it premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January. <\/p>\n The couple fell into a Hollywood pitfall that has caught countless others before them, explained Leo Braudy, a Los Angeles cultural historian and the author of \u201cThe Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History,\u201d per The New York Times<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThere has always been this aura here, this magical thinking,\u201d said Braudy. \u201cEverybody thinks, \u2018I\u2019m beautiful,\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m handsome.\u2019 Everybody thinks, \u2018If those people can make it in Hollywood, so can I.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf there was an easy path to success in show business,\u201d Braudy continued, \u201cthere would be a lot fewer flops in Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n For Harry and Meghan, Hollywood proved a tough formula to crack. The enormous commercial and cultural success during their first few years eventually lost momentum, sending them back to the U.K. in search of fresh opportunity \u2014 and perhaps a greater chance to mend their fractured family ties. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Q2QRHYHWLVCXDK4I2FBXSEP3NY.jpg\")
Britain’s Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, speaks to The Associated Press after a roundtable about support for veterans, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Washington. | Alex Brandon, Associated Press <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/EJWAWZMZOBGDJFLIUD4QWTWAYY.jpg\")
People walk past the Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. | Kin Cheung, Associated Press <\/p>\n