Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly planning to move from their Montecito, California home to the United Kingdom for an extended stay, bringing their children Archie and Lilibet along, six years after the couple stepped back from royal duties. The pair will not resume royal responsibilities and will continue working on their independent businesses while living in a non-royal residence, according to the report.
The planned relocation, first reported by the New York Post, has reportedly been in the works for several weeks or months. Harry and Meghan reportedly enrolled their two children at a British school, and King Charles was advised that the Sussexes would move back to the United Kingdom at the end of August 2026, a detail the Post says was first reported by The US Sun. Notably, the couple reportedly did not raise the planned move with the King and Queen during a private reunion at Highgrove House in July 2026.
A Home Base Six Years in the Making
Harry, now 41, and Meghan, 45, married in England in 2018 and left royal duties to relocate to the United States six years ago. They withdrew from active royal duties under the 2020 Sandringham Agreement — the arrangement widely known as Megxit — which allowed them to pursue independent projects but meant they could no longer formally represent Queen Elizabeth. They have lived in their Montecito home since 2020, an 18,000-square-foot mansion the couple purchased for $14 million, complete with rose gardens, a tea house, a tennis court, a pool, a children's cottage, and century-old olive trees. The couple welcomed their youngest child, Lilibet, now 5, after moving into the Montecito property; their son Archie is 7. Meghan and Harry were pictured together on August 4, 2026, shortly before news of the planned UK move emerged.
No Windsor Home Base Since 2023
Any extended UK stay comes with a practical wrinkle: the couple no longer has an official royal residence to return to. In June 2023, Harry and Meghan handed back the keys to Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Castle estate — their last official UK residence — after King Charles issued an eviction notice following the release of Harry's memoir *Spare*, according to The Mirror. That leaves the family needing to arrange private, non-royal housing during their time in Britain.
Security Arrangements Remain Unresolved
Complicating matters further, Harry's fight over UK police protection has not gone his way in the courts. The UK Court of Appeal rejected his legal challenge against the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, over its 2020 decision to downgrade his taxpayer-funded armed security during UK visits, as reported by BBC News in May 2025. Harry later petitioned UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood directly, requesting a full risk reassessment of his security arrangements when traveling with his family, per a report from The Fascinator. It remains unclear whether that request has resulted in any change to how his protection will be handled during the family's planned stay.
An Evolving Business Portfolio
The couple's commercial ventures have shifted considerably since their initial exit from royal life. Archewell Productions turned its exclusive $100 million streaming partnership with Netflix into a multi-year first-look deal in August 2025, giving Netflix first refusal on projects while letting the couple shop rejected ideas elsewhere, according to AP News. Netflix also expanded its commercial ties to Meghan that same month, co-launching consumer products under her As Ever lifestyle brand — jams, wines, and baking mixes — alongside her television series, Forbes reported. That marks a turnaround from 2023, when Spotify and Archewell Audio mutually ended their podcasting partnership, once valued at $20 million, after producing only a single 12-episode season of Meghan's show *Archetypes*.
Legal Pressure Continues in the US
Even as the couple looks toward Britain, legal scrutiny of Harry's US immigration history persists. A federal judge rejected a 2024 lawsuit from the conservative Heritage Foundation seeking release of Harry's US immigration records, ruling his privacy interests outweighed public curiosity about past drug admissions, according to The Washington Post. That fight has not ended: in August 2026, the US State Department withheld all 18 records identified in a follow-up Freedom of Information Act suit from the Heritage Foundation, per Newsweek, while officials continue reviewing more than 300 additional files.
Family Ties and an Official UK Anchor
Personal and professional threads have also been pulling Harry back toward Britain. King Charles's February 2024 cancer diagnosis prompted a brief solo trip from Harry to London to see his father, a moment that set the stage for their more recent private meeting at Highgrove House. Hoodline previously reported the couple sent well-wishes to King Charles and Princess Catherine during their respective health recoveries. On the professional side, Birmingham, England won the bid to host the 2027 Invictus Games over Washington, D.C. in July 2024, giving Harry's patronage work a formal UK anchor ahead of the couple's extended stay, according to the Invictus Games Foundation.
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