A private flight from Van Nuys, California, is believed to have carried Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and their two children into Birmingham International Airport at about 11:56 a.m. on August 26, 2026 — the family setting foot on British soil days after news broke that they intended to leave the United States and settle in Britain.
Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, made the trip with their parents. A spokesman for the duke and duchess said, “This is not something we would comment on.”
No police were visibly present as the family made their way out of the airport, a source told the BBC. Official engagements on behalf of the monarchy are not part of the plan. The Sussexes are instead expected to live in Britain as non-working royals, with a private property outside London — thought to be in the Cotswolds — as their base.
Six Years After Stepping Back
Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, stepped back from royal duties in early 2020 and settled in California that March; their return closes the loop that opened then. The 2020 Sandringham summit set the terms of that exit, ending with the pair standing down as senior royals and dropping the use of their HRH styles.
None of that is changing. They will live in a non-royal residence as private individuals, and there is understood to be no “half-in, half-out” arrangement on the table — the compromise the late Queen Elizabeth II rejected at Sandringham.
King Charles is understood to have learned of the move on August 16, and the Prince and Princess of Wales were informed as well. The family had called on the king at Highgrove in Gloucestershire in July, though the move is understood not to have come up during that visit. Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022 had been the last occasion before that on which the couple were in the U.K. together, making the July call their first joint visit since.
School Places Point to a Permanent Move
School places are the clearest indication that this amounts to more than an extended stay. Both children have been accepted at a school whose new term starts next week, and reports before the family touched down said Archie and Lilibet were enrolled to begin their British schooling in September.
Their properties in California and in Portugal, where the family spent part of the summer, are expected to stay in the couple’s hands. Charles is understood to welcome the opportunity for more private time with his son’s family. “I imagine King Charles has played a part in their decision, and Harry wanting to spend more time with his father,” former royal butler Grant Harrold told Us Weekly.
The education secretary, Lucy Powell, said she learned of the move from social media and the news “like everybody else,” and called the children’s enrollment a vote of confidence in British schools.
A spokesman for the Sussexes stopped short of confirming the family’s arrival but said their rescued chickens are staying in California, while the couple are bringing their dogs, Mia and Pula, with them to Britain, according to an August 27, 2026 update.
Unanswered Questions on Security
Since word of the move emerged, one subject has dominated: how the family will be guarded in Britain, and who foots the bill. There is no automatic entitlement to publicly funded protection for the Sussexes during their time in the U.K., and no details of any arrangement have been made public.
A court battle in 2025 ended in defeat for Harry, who had asked judges to overturn a decision that reduced his security after he stepped away from royal duties and moved to the U.S.; at issue was the level of protection afforded to him and his family in Britain. Ravec — the committee responsible for determining protection for members of the royal family and other prominent individuals — makes such calls. Individual cases are not something the Home Office will discuss; it maintains that the U.K.’s protective security arrangements are robust and argues that disclosing details would undermine them. The row is why Harry made the early-July trip to London alone, without Meghan and the children, contrary to his original plan; the rest of the family followed later that month for the Highgrove visit.
Legal bills are looming too. Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, prevailed in July when the High Court rejected the privacy claim brought against it by Harry and six other public figures. Costs for the seven claimants could run as high as £34.5 million, with an initial £9.54 million due by August 28.
The Rift That Has Yet to Heal
Harry and Prince William remain estranged. At the root of the breach is what the pair have said publicly about William, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, Charles and Camilla in the years since they left Britain. Those tracking the feud describe a Prince of Wales who has yet to forgive, the hurt still lingering.
The return raises the long-term prospect of two rival courts and makes it harder for William to sidestep a reconciliation, according to Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent, speaking to the PA news agency. “The surprise return of Harry and Meghan is likely to have left William apoplectic,” Hunt said. A BBC interview saw Harry, for his part, say that he wants to reconcile with the Royal Family.
Daily Mail royal expert Sarah Vine said on the August 25, 2026 episode of the Palace Confidential podcast that William’s public stance had been “about right, actually. Just neutrality. Just keep your powder dry,” but added: “We have been told that behind closed doors he was, in fact, apoplectic.” She also said the manner of the announcement was “classic Sussex.”
Harry’s cousin Lady Eliza Spencer, 34, told The Mirror at the launch of her rosé brand Lala V at Hackstons in Knightsbridge, London, on August 26, 2026: “Absolutely, it’s exciting! We would love to be able to find some time to visit.”
The professional front has shifted as well. Netflix in August 2025 swapped the couple’s 2020 overall production deal for a multiyear first-look arrangement covering Archewell Productions, a move that stripped the exclusivity of the original contract and mirrored the streamer’s restructuring of the Obamas’ Higher Ground deal. The Netflix series “The Gentlemen” was the vehicle for a possible return to acting: Meghan was in early talks over its third season, in what would have been her first significant acting role since her marriage to Harry. Her name was dropped from consideration, the royal biographer Tina Brown reported on August 22.
“The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward,” Brown wrote. Whether any offer existed at all is disputed by Neil Sean, a correspondent close to the director Guy Ritchie. A trusteeship ends this autumn as well: after 10 years, Harry leaves the board of the conservation charity African Parks on September 30. Their years in the United States have drawn assessments crediting the couple with some success in show business while noting that their run in Hollywood did not last.
Meghan is expected to continue running her lifestyle brand As Ever from the couple’s UK home, while Harry is slated to spend time supporting UK-based charities and patronages.
Visibility has hardly been a problem for them in the meantime. The QuestScope youth center at Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, which houses displaced Syrians, drew a visit from the couple on February 25. A trip to Australia earlier in 2026 set off debate over whether they were working, earning or approximating the royal role they gave up. That question moves closer to home from next week, with two children in British classrooms.