Since the Sussexes brought their family back to Britain, the distance between Prince William and his younger brother has only widened, and the future king is reportedly counting the days until the couple head back to the U.S. A source quoted in an account published Sept. 29, 2026, said William sees no long-term future in the U.K. for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and expects the pair to head back to California, and that he doubts the arrangement will survive another six months. The source said William believes the couple will give up once they accept they cannot force the outcome they want.
The same source said William is frustrated by King Charles III’s handling of the Sussexes: “It’s very hard for William to watch his father being so soft on them.” The source said Charles, 77, does not want to appear to bend to Harry’s demands but is seeking a compromise, and that William, 44, has had to “accept” that “there’s no changing” his father’s mind.
The source also said William is angered by Harry “being so blatantly disrespectful by cozying up to Charles Spencer right when he’s putting out this dreadful book.” On Harry reportedly “going off on his own to do this Diana documentary,” the source said: “In William’s view, they can’t leave soon enough.”
The memoir by Earl Spencer about Princess Diana, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” has now been published.
The claims appeared in Closer Weekly, a U.S. celebrity magazine.
Charles Sets a Deadline
Royal sources told New Idea, following the Spencer book’s release, that Charles has set a deadline for his sons to reconcile — before the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death next year — and plans a small official service honoring her that he expects both sons and all her grandchildren to attend. “Charles is at the point of no return with Harry and William – he’s going all-in on a reconciliation for the sake of his grandkids,” a close insider told New Idea.
Sources told New Idea that Kate Middleton has agreed to a secret meeting with Harry, with a close confidant saying: “But for the sake of peace, she is open to having an informal meeting with Harry to discuss the way forward. A Kate-Harry peace plan is on the cards.” The insiders said she will not act without William’s approval.
A Fresh Security Review
Their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, made the trip with Harry and Meghan when the family came back to Britain in August for what was expected to be an extended stay. Officials responded to that arrival by opening a fresh review of the family’s security arrangements, and sources say an unfavorable decision could see the Sussexes cut the stay short and leave the country. As of the Sept. 29 account, the Sussexes were still waiting on the outcome, and the source said William was waiting for news of a flight back to America.
As of October 8, 2026, Harry has met Charles — in July — but has still not met William; the brothers were last seen together publicly at the coronation in May 2023. Archie and Lilibet started at a British school in September.
The source said Harry would rather stay in Britain for good after six years of homesickness, and that Meghan is expected to make the final call. Give her a few months at most, in William’s estimation. Their home in Montecito, Calif., will pull them back sooner or later, the prince reckons, the source said, and he does not regard his brother’s relocation as sustainable.
William is reportedly staying out of the security dispute. Any intervention, the prince believes, would hand Harry ammunition to use against him, an insider said, adding that he is leaving the matter to the authorities to resolve.
Harry lost his armed, state-funded police protection in 2020, after he and Meghan stepped back from their roles as working royals and moved to California, and the dispute has run ever since. The U.K. courts have rejected his repeated attempts to overturn that decision. Britain’s Closer magazine, a separate title from U.S. Closer Weekly, has covered the story more than once, among them an earlier cover shaped around a rumored setback in his security fight.
Spencer Makes His Case
Royal expert Richard Eden described the couple’s reported ultimatum as “akin to blackmail,” arguing it amounts to an attempt to force a favorable ruling. The fallout would reach much further, Eden said: should the Sussexes secure protection, he argued, they could come and go while keeping police cover, and a request for that same protection in America could follow, with taxpayers left to carry the cost.
Official protection is what Earl Spencer, Harry’s maternal uncle and the brother of the late Princess Diana, has argued the Sussexes should receive, pointing to his nephew’s military service and his position as fifth in line to the throne. Spencer, 62, drew on his own loss in the 1997 Paris car crash that killed his sister, likening what Diana endured to the tabloid treatment of Harry and Meghan. Granting protection is the side he would come down on, he said, rather than risk a death he believes could have been avoided.
The couple fear the relocation may have been a mistake and are bracing for an unfavorable ruling, Reports have suggested.
