From the looks of their business ventures, a handful of Netflix series and the occasional snapshot on social media, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's move from the UK to America has been the positive change they needed. So when news broke yesterday of the Sussexes' imminent plans to return to the UK, with Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, reportedly already enrolled in their new school, I doubt I was the only one whose eyebrows shot to the top of their forehead.
Surprise at reported return to UK
Since 2019, the couple have lived in North America — briefly Vancouver Island, Canada, then Montecito, California — raising their children and avoiding the immediate glare of British media. They have made no secret of the difficulties they experienced while living as royals in Britain, nor the relative peace they've had while being an ocean away from it all. I am baffled as to why they would come back to somewhere that gave them so much deep stress and difficulty.
I can't imagine why they would want to subject themselves to more of the same media scrutiny that drove them away, without good reason. We could spend weeks speculating the reasons behind this move, and how their strained relationships with Charles, William and Kate will develop in the months to come — and I'm sure we will.
Privacy and apology seen as unlikely
But what can be said with confidence now is that if Harry and Meghan are hoping for the privacy they say they crave, coming back to the UK is the wrong decision. On top of that, they are entitled to an apology for all the mistreatment they've experienced — and few people expect that to happen.
From the start of Harry and Meghan's relationship in 2016, the press attention that surrounded them was significant. With his unique positioning as a senior royal with little expectation that he'll ever assume the throne, tabloids had always been interested in the Prince's personal life. But the coverage took a sharp turn upwards when he started dating Meghan, the mixed-race former Suits actress. Her clothes, previous relationships and family background came under intense scrutiny, with many arguing that racial bias played a part in the coverage. Meanwhile, commentators criticised Meghan for doing things as innocuous as embracing her pregnancy bump — something many previously praised Kate for. For some, there was seemingly no way for Meghan to do anything right, and it took a grave toll on her mental health.
Oprah interview and legal defeats
Then, there was the interview that spawned a thousand memes: Meghan and Harry's 2021 sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, in which the couple gave an in-depth account of their experience. Notable points included Meghan's assertion that she'd had suicidal thoughts over the outsized, brutal attention; the claim that a family member had concerns over the colour of Archie's skin ahead of his birth in 2019, and that Kate had made Meghan cry ahead of her 2018 wedding to Harry. By lifting the lid on their rift with the Palace so explicitly, the Sussexes threw a grenade into the hopes of a reconciliation — with ideas of reunion further dashed with Harry's tell-all memoir, Spare, in 2023.
So to see them return to the UK now, albeit still as private citizens with no official royal titles, is very surprising. As far as the public knows, King Charles, nor the Queen, William or Kate have apologised for their part in Harry and Meghan's upsetting experience in the UK before, or acknowledged there being any truth in their allegations. I believe a public apology from that core group of Royals would make all the difference. Without one, it gives ammo to those who have been critical of the Sussexes' claims about adversity within the royal family and from parts of the British press — because if nothing has feasibly changed, it's hard to know what would make them want to risk going through that heartache again.
Last month, Harry lost his High Court privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, which came after a separate legal defeat relating to the levels of publicly-funded security his family was entitled to. Those cases clearly drained Harry, and it makes his decision to come back even more curious.
King Charles reportedly informed days before
Despite all this, the fifth-in-line to the throne has kept some form of relationship with his father over the years, returning for Charles's coronation and throughout his cancer treatment. Perhaps his return to the country was potentially always on the cards. The King is said to welcome the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity — but apparently was only told of these plans a few days before they became public. If this is the case, it seems that their return isn't specifically requested by the monarch, who hasn't seen his grandchildren for the best part of four years.
With many of the issues the couple have faced, it's a wonder why they're expecting this time around to be different. And despite being halfway across the world, they have still very much been in the media eye — so surely the stories will continue to mount up as soon as they land. I imagine there's more to learn about the specific reasons for the Sussexes' return, and hopefully it'll lead to a peaceful co-existence for everyone involved. I just hope, for everyone's sake, that it's a decision Harry and Meghan don't come to regret.
