Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are back on British soil. The couple and their two children are believed to have flown privately from Van Nuys, California, landing at Birmingham International Airport at about 11:56 a.m. on August 26, 2026, days after news broke that the family intended to leave the United States and settle in Britain.
Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, traveled with their parents. A spokesman for the duke and duchess said, “This is not something we would comment on.”
A source told the BBC that no police appeared to be on hand as the family left the airport. The Sussexes will not resume official engagements on behalf of the monarchy. Instead, they are expected to live in Britain as non-working royals, basing themselves at a private property outside London, thought to be in the Cotswolds.
Six Years After the Exit
The move closes a loop that opened in early 2020, when Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, stepped back from royal duties and settled in California that March. The terms of that exit were settled at the Sandringham summit in 2020, which ended with the couple standing down as senior royals and dropping the use of their HRH styles.
Nothing about that arrangement is changing. The couple will live in a non-royal residence and remain private individuals, and no “half-in, half-out” arrangement is understood to be on the table — a compromise the late Queen Elizabeth II rejected at Sandringham.
King Charles was informed of the decision earlier in August, as were the Prince and Princess of Wales. In July, the family called on the king at Highgrove in Gloucestershire, although the move is understood not to have come up during that visit. That reunion was the first time Harry and Meghan had been in the U.K. together since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022.
School Places Signal a Permanent Move
The clearest indication that this amounts to more than an extended stay involves the children: both have secured places at a school whose new term begins next week. Ahead of the family’s arrival, it was reported that Archie and Lilibet had been enrolled to start school in Britain in September.
The Sussexes are expected to hold on to their properties in California and in Portugal, where the family spent part of the summer. Charles is understood to welcome the opportunity for more private time with his son’s family. Lucy Powell, the education secretary, said she found out about the move from social media and the news “like everybody else,” and described the children’s enrollment as a vote of confidence in British schools.
Security Questions Left Unanswered
The question of how the family will be guarded in Britain — and who foots the bill — has dominated the conversation since news of the move emerged. There is no automatic entitlement to publicly funded protection for the Sussexes while they are in the U.K., and no details of any arrangement have been made public.
Harry lost a court battle in 2025 over the level of protection afforded to him and his family in Britain, having asked judges to overturn a decision that reduced his security after he stepped away from royal duties and moved to the U.S. Such calls are made by Ravec, the committee that determines protection for members of the royal family and other prominent individuals. The Home Office maintains that the U.K.’s protective security arrangements are robust but will not discuss individual cases, arguing that disclosing details would undermine them. Because of the row, Harry traveled to London in early July without Meghan and the children, contrary to his original plan; they joined him in Britain later that month for the Highgrove visit.
Legal bills are also looming. In July, the High Court rejected the privacy claim brought by Harry and six other public figures against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail. The seven claimants face costs of as much as £34.5 million, with an initial £9.54 million due by August 28.
A Rift That Has Not Healed
The estrangement between Harry and Prince William endures, a breach traced to the couple’s public criticism of William, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, Charles and Camilla since their departure from Britain. Commentary on the feud suggests the Prince of Wales has yet to forgive, with the hurt still lingering.
Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent, told the PA news agency that the couple’s homecoming raises the long-term prospect of two rival courts while making it harder for William to avoid a reconciliation. “The surprise return of Harry and Meghan is likely to have left William apoplectic,” Hunt said. Harry, for his part, has said in a BBC interview that he wants to reconcile with the Royal Family.
There are changes on the professional front as well. In August 2025, Netflix replaced the couple’s 2020 overall production deal with a multiyear first-look arrangement covering Archewell Productions, stripping the exclusivity of the original contract and mirroring the streamer’s restructuring of the Obamas’ Higher Ground deal. Meghan was in early talks to appear in the third season of the Netflix series “The Gentlemen,” which would have been her first significant acting role since her marriage to Harry. On August 22, the royal biographer Tina Brown reported that she had been dropped from consideration.
“The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward,” Brown wrote. Neil Sean, a correspondent close to the director Guy Ritchie, disputes that any offer existed. Harry is stepping down as a trustee of the conservation charity African Parks on September 30, after 10 years. Assessments of their years in the United States have noted that the couple found some success in show business, but that their run in Hollywood did not last.
They have hardly been out of view in the meantime. On February 25, the couple toured the QuestScope youth center at Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, which houses displaced Syrians. Earlier in 2026, a trip to Australia prompted debate over whether the couple were working, earning or approximating the royal role they gave up. From next week, with two children in British classrooms, that question moves closer to home.
