After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took their “freedom flight” out of London in 2020, it seemed like, by all accounts, they were leaving Britain permanently to raise their young children in California. But on August 19, it was announced that Harry and Meghan were moving back to the U.K. for an extended period and had enrolled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in a local school. It’s a decision that has raised a number of questions, but as the Telegraph’s royal editor, Hannah Furness, wrote in the publication’s latest newsletter, the move hints that Harry “may have finally got what he wanted all along.”
In late 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent roughly six weeks living on Vancouver Island, Canada, before returning to London in January 2020. As Furness noted, Prince Harry wrote in his memoir, Spare, “Brief as it was, that taste of freedom had got us thinking. What if like could be like that...all the time? What if we could spend at least part of each year somewhere far away, still doing work for the Queen, but beyond the reach of the press?”
After Queen Elizabeth denied the plan, stating that Harry and Meghan had to be in or out, they left for California. But now that six years have passed, much has changed for the Royal Family. Queen Elizabeth has died, and with King Charles living with cancer at age 77, perhaps the Duke of Sussex has realized that it’s time to be closer to his family while he still can.
Harry and Meghan's royal status is not changing, and they'll be establishing a non-royal residence at an undisclosed location in the U.K. while carrying out private charitable endeavors and commercial work. But as Furness pointed out, their working situation isn't quite straightforward, especially as Meghan continues to build her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
“Prince Harry and his family will, if they choose, be photographed with the King, placing them visually back at the heart of the Royal family in the public eye,” Furness wrote. “And they will continue their commercial activities, the strawberry jam in yesterday’s As Ever marketing email perhaps replaced with a seasonal British blackberry.”
They won't technically be half-in like their original plan, since the couple's charitable work will be carried out on their own and not on behalf of the monarch. But the optics could be confusing.
“The Sussexes will look, to those who don’t know or care about the nuances of working royal life, exactly half-in, half-out,” Furness added. “The King’s reign is their only chance to be so and establish that foothold.”
Now that Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, will be living closer to their grandfather, it would come as no surprise to see the Sussexes at Sandringham for Christmas or visiting Balmoral in the summer. But when it comes to Prince William and his younger brother, a thaw seems unlikely—at least right now.
As Furness wrote, “To use Meghan’s favourite word, they are not back in the Royal family fold... ‘yet.”
