What’s next for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as UK return looms? Acting role for the Duchess, new school for Archie and Lili, and more revealed

Indeed, only 15 months ago, Prince Harry declared that there was no way that his wife, Meghan, and their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, would live in his place of birth. “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK,” he said as he reflected on the Court of Appeal’s decision not to restore his state-funded police protection.

Yet as he revealed in a bombshell announcement that made headlines around the world last week, the Duke and his family are preparing for the previously unthinkable: a return to British shores. The decision caught everyone by surprise, not least the King, who learnt of his younger son’s planned move only four days before it became public knowledge.

So why are they coming back now? Sources close to the Sussexes say they realised that they wanted to make the move after enjoying a family trip to Britain in July, when Archie and Lilibet were reunited with their grandfather the King and spent quality time with Harry’s uncle Earl Spencer in Northamptonshire.

Why are Harry and Meghan returning now?

It also seems that career aspirations are a factor for Meghan, who is widely believed to have been offered an acting role in Britain.

“Harry has been really keen for the children to experience life in the UK, and Meghan will support this as well,” a friend of the Duke tells HELLO!. “They feel the time is right. They’ll want to get the kids settled. Obviously, the longer you leave it, the harder that becomes, because of the age they are.”

The children’s previously distant relationship with their royal relatives must also have been a deciding factor. Archie and Lilibet were at the centre of a surprise reunion at Highgrove last month, when they saw their grandfather the King, along with the Queen, for the first time in four years.

The fact that the details of the meeting have remained private suggests that there is a new bond of trust, which could be the foundation stone for a rapprochement. 

A friend of the couple tells HELLO!: “They had a wonderful time this summer and that was part of what went into the decision. They realised that they wanted to take the opportunity to bring their kids home and share his family’s history with them. They saw a lot of friends and family during their visit. They’re excited to give the children more time in a country that’s important to them and they have the flexibility to be able to do that while the kids are young.”

Harry and Meghan will also be keen to continue their warm relationship with Earl Spencer, having recently spent time with him at Althorp, the ancestral home of Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

A return to acting for Meghan?

A new acting role for Meghan is also likely to have influenced their decision. Just over 24 hours after the Sussexes’ relocation was revealed, reports emerged that the Suits alum had been offered a role in a forthcoming project based in the UK.

According to Deadline, the Duchess may be joining Season 3 of Netflix’s The Gentlemen, though the series, starring Theo James, has yet to be renewed for a third season.

One source previously thought that Meghan may be asked to do a West End show. “Lots of people in the theatre world are talking about it,” the source told HELLO!. “She has always wanted to do something like that.”

Leading public relations expert Mark Borkowski tells HELLO!: “I know at least three or four West End theatre producers who would have her in a production tomorrow. If Amanda Knox could be the biggest talking point of Edinburgh [Festival Fringe], why wouldn’t Meghan? Whether she wants to do that, I don’t know, but a sharp producer would definitely see a vehicle for her.”

Reconciliation with the royal family

However, others suggest that the motivation for the move could be rooted in financial concerns. Harry faces a hefty legal bill after last Friday’s ruling that he and his co-defendants, including Sir Elton John and Sadie Frost, must make an initial payment of £9.5m in legal costs to the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday after losing their High Court privacy case in July.

Robert Jobson, the author of The Windsor Legacy, suggests that although the couple’s children are a factor, there is another, unspoken motive. “I think it’s a bigger decision than it just being Harry’s turn or it being about the kids. Basically, they’ve had a bit of a difficult time with their ventures and they need a role,” he says.

He believes that Harry wishes to mend his relationship with his father, who is 77 years old and living with cancer, both for emotional reasons and to renew his royal status. “It’s going to be very difficult for the King,” Robert says. “On one level, he will reconnect. On another level, it will make things complicated for him. If the King has been blindsided by it, he will be upset. But it does mean that he can try to bring Harry into the fold and maybe give him a role.

“It is a gift that would be much more forthcoming from his father than his brother,” Robert adds. “I feel that William must be slightly aghast by the whole thing. The return of the prodigal son will be difficult for him.”

As for any reconciliation with the wider family, a friend of Harry and Meghan tells HELLO!: “One step at a time. But having the opportunity to have relationships with friends and family that are harder from the other side of the world? The driver is there. I don’t think anything will be immediate. They’re obviously going to move and get the kids into school, and we’ll see how it goes from there. But I hope there’s a way that this could all work harmoniously. Hopefully, there is space for positive working opportunities for everybody.”

There are still other thorny issues to iron out, not least the question of the couple’s royal status. The late Queen Elizabeth II declared that there could be no “half in, half out” status for a working member of the royal family, and when asked if this still stands, Robert says: “How can that not happen, if they are living in this country? Whatever they do will be seen as semi-royal. Perception is everything, and this causes confusion. It will muddy the waters. If you give Harry an inch, he takes a mile.”

Harry and Meghan’s financial predicament

The fact that the couple’s business ventures in Hollywood did not go according to plan could be significant. When their rumoured $100m deal with Netflix came to an end, the agreement was reportedly renegotiated after they failed to replicate the success of their tell-all documentary, Harry & Meghan.

A similar deal with Spotify, worth $20m, was terminated in 2023 after just one season of their podcast series, Archetypes. Meanwhile, Meghan’s lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, was recently cancelled by Netflix after two seasons.

Robert adds: “Could they be coming back for his visa, money or declaring tax? They’re saying it’s for the children’s education, but I don’t believe that. I think it’s financial and to do with his position as a royal.”

An industry source who has previously worked with Meghan says that the pair have alienated key figures in California. “They are not well liked in Montecito, but also in Hollywood. If I was in that situation, I’d think I would need to move, because they’ve used up all their favours. I don’t think they have many friends and the Kardashians don’t like them. The perception with them is that nothing’s ever simple, nothing’s ever easy.”

Meghan remains committed to As Ever, the lifestyle brand through which she markets her own range of jam, wine, candles and honey, and she is expected to join Harry for some forthcoming public engagements relating to his charitable work. The couple have campaigned against online harm, a topic on which they are likely to continue working in Europe. 

As Ever, in addition to Archewell Productions, Harry and Meghan’s media company, and Archewell Philanthropies, their charity, will continue to operate from the US, under the same teams that currently manage them.

Harry’s charitable ventures

Meanwhile, Harry’s dedication to his beloved Invictus Games remains strong. He has always planned to attend the event in Birmingham next summer and is keen to cement his charitable ties with the organisations with which he has maintained relationships, including the sick children’s charity WellChild. 

“Whenever he is around, it’s a boost for the movement,” a friend of the couple says. “It’s great that he will be more available for things, and talking about the issues and all of the people that Invictus supports. He feels incredibly happy when he’s involved in Invictus. From a practical point of view, there will hopefully be more opportunities for him to be involved, publicly and privately, and that’s definitely a benefit. 

“What he does well is [putting a] spotlight on causes that he feels completely at home with and passionate about. If it means more conversation, more ability to drive forward the sort of issues that he supports, that’s great for the organisations.”

Broken bond with Prince William

Away from their work, there is, of course, the question of how Harry and Meghan will reintegrate with their royal relatives. Although the King and Queen recently welcomed the Sussexes to Highgrove, a less warm reception is expected from Harry’s brother, the Prince of Wales, from whom he remains estranged.

Their relationship collapsed in light of the revelations aired by Harry in both his 2023 autobiography, Spare, and his and Meghan’s Netflix documentary, as well as a damaging interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, in which the Duke and Duchess suggested that the royal family were racist.

Robert says it is hard to imagine how the brothers could attend family events together. “Are they really going to have William and Harry sitting around a table with all that’s gone on?” he says. “Perhaps the King is hoping that it will be a chance for reconciliation. We’ve had the noise of Megxit. Now we have Regretxit.”

Winning back public opinion

Yet a friend of the couple adds that the Sussexes know they have a steep hill to climb, not least in winning back public opinion, which has cooled of late. In a YouGov poll released last week, in wake of the news of their UK move, 33% opposed their return, while just 21% supported it. This chimes with long-running ill feeling dating back to Megxit in 2020; since then, Harry and Meghan have been the least popular members of the royal family, apart from the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“They’re not operating in a bubble,” the friend says. “They’re aware of the context of their return and they’re aware of the impact they can have. But they will get on with their business, and I think that’s what they’ll probably want to focus on. How other people perceive it is obviously down to them; that just has to play out.”

Brand and PR experts say that the couple will need to tread carefully if they want to restore their reputations in the UK. Mark Borkowski tells HELLO!: “You don’t make a decision like that overnight, and it’s quite interesting to me because clearly there’s something going on here and they’ve been planning it for a while. Harry’s built for purpose; he was trained for service, and it must have been difficult living out in Montecito with sunshine and jam and Netflix. 

“If you look at it from a PR point of view, you knew they didn’t have a team around them who were going to challenge some of their crazier ideas – it was too full of people telling them what they wanted to hear, and that’s what’s been missing. But what is Meghan going to do?

“Harry is an asset for any charity and I think the British public can be forgiving. It might be a rocky ride, but if they take small steps and don’t do any crazy Kardashian-like things, like following their return with a film crew and selling it to a streamer, they might stand a chance. It’s about choosing the way of rebuilding and getting involved in reconciliation – not just with the royal household, but also with the British public.”

The brand expert Nick Ede says: “I see it as a huge challenge because they have to change the public’s perception of them. Harry and Meghan do have a fan base; people will always have a soft spot for Harry because of what he went through with his mother. But it’s going to be much harder for Meghan to establish herself in any shape or form. It’s a challenge optically for them, as it looks as though they’ve come back with their tail between their legs, no matter how much you spin it.”

The thorny issue of security

But the Sussexes’ return doesn’t just have implications for their reputation: the tricky subject of the family’s security also needs to be addressed. Prince Harry has been unrelenting in his quest for public-funded security to safeguard himself, his wife and their children after it was withdrawn following their move to California.

In light of last week’s news, there has been no public indication that the Home Office is reconsidering its position, but the announcement could mean that something has shifted behind the scenes. Ken Wharfe, who was Harry’s bodyguard when he was a child, says that the government will have to reconsider once he is a resident of the UK.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult for the government not to give him some level of security. He’s still a prince of the realm,” Ken tells HELLO!. When asked whether Harry’s position as a non-working member of the royal family is equivalent to those of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who do not receive royal protection, he says: “The closeness to the King puts it in a slightly different frame. There is no comparison with Beatrice and Eugenie.”

Ken says that Harry’s return to the UK to live, rather than just to visit, changes the argument about protection. “I have said publicly that I didn’t think he deserved security for visits. I think that there will be a different approach to [a more permanent move].”

Robert says: “If Harry is going to get full security, as he has been demanding, he’s going to have to be embraced as a royal again.”

Private life in the Cotswolds

This unresolved issue could be one of the reasons why the family have chosen to live in private accommodation outside London. Reports suggest that the Cotswolds is the most likely area of residence, with some suggesting that Archie and Lilibet have been enrolled in a school there. Harry and Meghan lived in Great Tew in total secrecy for around nine months before they married in 2018.

“They have lots of friends in the area,” a source says. “Meghan is close to Ellen DeGeneres, who lives there with her wife, Portia de Rossi, as does Simon Cowell, who is friends with Prince Harry. There is also Soho Farmhouse, a members’ club where they are sure to spend some time, as Meghan is still friendly with the Soho House executive Markus Anderson. The house they rented when they were last living in the Cotswolds was quite small and isn’t big enough for what they need now, so they will have found somewhere else.”

If they do move to the area, one local who may not be popping around for a cup of tea is Harry’s cousin Beatrice. Despite suggestions that he had kept up his friendship with both her and her sister, Eugenie, HELLO! understands that they are no longer close. “Harry and Meghan are not so close to Beatrice and Eugenie any more, and Harry did not see Eugenie over the summer in Portugal [where they both have properties],” a society source says.

“Harry has very few friends left from before. They’re going to have to make some serious social inroads and gatherings to get back in the fold. Beatrice and Eugenie are not even in touch [with Harry], and Eugenie was once so close to him.

“They didn’t even see each other when they were over in Portugal recently, probably because Eugenie was so heavily pregnant, but it’s a real difference to how close they used to be – so close that they let Eugenie and Jack [Brooksbank, her husband] stay in Frogmore Cottage.”

Although festive celebrations will no doubt be approached on a “one step at a time” basis, the idea of Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet being invited to Sandringham for Christmas is no longer out of the question. Much would need to be forgiven and plenty of work done first, but a year ago, the idea of Archie and Lili enrolling in British prep schools seemed far more improbable.

By comparison, a Sussex Christmas at Sandringham no longer feels quite so far-fetched.