Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Moving Back to the UK With Their Children
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are relocating from California to the United Kingdom later this month, bringing their two children with them, according to multiple wire services and a PEOPLE magazine exclusive published on August 20, 2026.
Reuters, AP, and DPA all reported the move on the same date. The BBC confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to settle in a private, non-royal residence outside London. PEOPLE was first to report that Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, will make the move with their parents. Both children are expected to start at a British school in September, according to The Guardian and The New York Times.
The decision reverses a position Harry has stated publicly and repeatedly. In 2024, he said the couple planned on living in the U.S. for good. "I very much enjoy living here and bringing my kids up here," he told interviewers at the time. Last year, he told the BBC: "I can't see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point." Meghan, for her part, said in a 2022 interview that they were "living my best life" in California and expressed her love for the state.
The couple has been estranged from the British royal family, as The Washington Post reported. Their discontent with royal life first surfaced publicly during a 2019 tour of South Africa — their last overseas tour as working members of the royal family. In a documentary about that trip, "Harry & Meghan: An African Journey," Meghan called the British approach to emotions "really damaging." In a March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, she revealed for the first time that she had experienced suicidal thoughts during her time as a working royal.
The timeline of the return is tight. The family intends to relocate later in August. School starts in September. And Meghan is expected to attend a one-year countdown event for the Invictus Games — the international adaptive sports competition Harry founded in 2014 — ahead of the 2027 Games in Birmingham, according to the Daily Mail.
The BBC reported that the sudden decision leaves many questions for both the Sussexes and the royal family. Buckingham Palace has not publicly commented on the move. No details have been confirmed about the children's specific school, the family's exact residence, or whether any working role within the royal household is under discussion.
Harry and Meghan stepped back from their positions as working royals in 2020 and relocated to Montecito, California, a wealthy community north of Los Angeles. They have lived there for more than six years. Archie was born in the UK in 2019; Lilibet was born in California in 2021.
