The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are understood to be returning to the UK six years after leaving for the US, when they severed ties with the Royal Family and, seemingly, Harry’s homeland for good.

The Sussexes were formally released from the Royal Family on March 31, 2020, when they stopped representing the Queen and became financially independent. They established a new life for themselves in the celebrity enclave of Montecito in California, buying a multi-million-pound home and launching a non-profit foundation.

But now they are coming back in what is the latest bombshell revelation since the crisis, dubbed Megxit, rocked the Royal Family.

Much has happened in the intervening years, with relations between Harry and his family deteriorating further.

Here’s a look back at the events since Megxit – and what could be bringing them back to the UK?

Harry and Meghan quit as senior working royals

In January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they wanted to step down as senior royals and be financially independent.

The couple wished to escape tabloid scrutiny, especially after what they said was the media hounding of Princess Diana, Harry’s mother.

Queen Elizabeth II held a Sandringham summit to resolve “Megxit” and the outcome was that the Sussexes’ semi-royal role was deemed untenable – they were either in or out.

The couple quit as senior working royals, packed their bags and flew to California with their son, Prince Archie. It was the start of the Covid pandemic.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit the UK for California six years ago. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Racism and bullying allegations

In a television interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Harry and Meghan claimed an unnamed royal had made a racist remark about their son’s skin tone before he was born. They also said the monarchy failed to help Meghan when she was feeling suicidal.

At the time, Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, was ill in hospital.

The Sussexes told Oprah about allegations of a racist comment towards their son. Credit: Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions/PA

Meghan also revealed it was Kate who made her cry at a bridesmaid dress fitting ahead of the Sussexes’ wedding, and said the Palace refused to correct the initial reports that it was the other way round.

Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, refused to play out the matter on a public stage. In a statement, she said the issues raised would be dealt with privately as a family, but that “some recollections may vary”.

Meghan was accused of bullying Palace aides, which she strongly denied, and the pair gained a reputation of being unable to retain staff.

The Sussexes, no longer bankrolled by the Royal Family, went on to sign multi-million-pound commercial deals with Netflix and Spotify.

Megxit became permanent in 2021 and the Queen stripped a devastated Harry of his military titles and royal patronages, with the Sussexes declaring they would always live a life of service.

They went on to welcome a daughter, Lilibet Diana, in June 2021, a younger sister to Archie. However, their claim that Queen Elizabeth II gave her blessing for them to use her childhood family nickname left the monarch “as angry as I’d ever seen her”, an aide revealed.

The royal family together in 2019. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Allegations continue

Harry and Meghan continued to fire off allegations in a Netflix documentary and the Duke’s bestselling autobiography Spare – both released in the months that followed the late Queen’s death and at the start of the King’s reign.

Harry claimed his “archnemesis” brother “Willy” physically attacked him and knocked him to the floor into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan’s alleged rude behaviour. He said the King put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of Meghan and Kate.

He added that his stepmother Queen Camilla was “dangerous” for her willingness to forge relationships with the British press and said she had attempted to rehabilitate her “image” at his cost.

Copies of Harry’s autobiography Spare. Credit: James Manning/PA

Harry later accused the royal family of a “horrible reaction” on the day Queen Elizabeth II died. He said he was not invited to join the family on the plane to Balmoral to see her and could not wear military uniform at her funeral as he was no longer a working royal.

Meghan has described herself as the most trolled person in the world.

Coronation and cancer diagnosis

The duke has visited the UK several times since leaving for the US.

He attended his father’s coronation in 2023, without Meghan, but left immediately after to return to the US for his son’s fourth birthday.

When Charles was diagnosed with cancer in 2024, Harry rushed to London to see him, but they spent less than 45 minutes together before the King left for Sandringham.

Harry seated in the third row at his father’s coronation. Credit: Victoria Jones/PA

Legal battles

The duke won a High Court case against The Sun for “serious intrusion” into his private life and that of his mother, the Princess of Wales, and “unlawful activities”.

In an ITV documentary about his fight, he said his determination to fight the tabloids was a “central piece” in destroying his relationship with his family.

Prince William is also said to have reached a “huge sum of money” in a settlement with News Group Newspapers over hacking claims in 2020.

Harry recently lost his High Court claim against the Daily Mail publisher over alleged unlawful information-gathering.

Security has also been a big issue for the duke. Harry lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office about the level of security he receives when in the UK.

Prince Harry took legal action against the Home Office regarding the level of security he receives when in the UK. Credit: James Manning/PA

The fight allegedly caused difficulties for the King as head of state, who, according to Harry, stopped taking his son’s calls.

Harry has insisted his wife and children were not safe in the country of his birth and told the BBC in 2025 he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK”.

However, the Telegraph reported that Harry wanted a “refuge” in the UK and the “freedom to enjoy British summers, see friends and come and go without the ‘circus’ that has surrounded recent visits”.

Now the couple will supposedly move back to the United Kingdom later this month, ITV News understands, making their home in a non-royal residence outside of London.

Harry and Meghan’s children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are said to have enrolled to start at British schools in September.

Charity work cut back

In October 2020, Harry and Meghan launched their Archewell Foundation, focused on supporting humanitarian relief, community projects and campaigning for child online safety.

In 2025, the charity was rebranded as Archewell Philanthropies, moving away from providing independent services and cutting staff.

Meghan and Harry together at the Invictus Games. Credit: Aaron Chown/PA

After nearly 20 years, Harry left his Sentebale charity, which works with young people in Southern Africa, following a dispute with its chair of trustees.

His involvement with the Invictus Games has continued- a competition launched by the prince in 2014 for military service personnel and veterans.

Netflix and Spotify flops

The Sussexes signed a watered-down deal with Netflix in 2025, after Meghan’s lifestyle show With Love, Meghan was panned by critics.

Their lucrative media deal with Spotify in 2023 also flopped after the company’s executives branded them as “grifters” following one season of Meghan’s podcast Archetypes.

While living in Montecito, California, Harry has been spotted walking his dogs, surfing and spending time with his children as well as appearing in comedy sketches on US chat shows.

Meghan has pursued her As Ever brand, selling jam and wine.

Building a relationship with the King

Harry and Meghan took Archie and Lili to see their grandfather and Camilla for the first time in four years in July, at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

But there has been no such reunion with William, who faced dealing with the “brutal” experience of both the King and Kate being diagnosed with cancer in the same year.

Harry revealed after the publication of Spare in 2023 that he had, in fact, enough material for two books.

“There are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don’t want the world to know,” he said.

“Because I don’t think they would ever forgive me.”

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