King Charles III has told senior figures across the British government that Prince Harry, the duke of Sussex, and his wife, Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, remain non-working members of the royal family now that they are living back in the United Kingdom — a clarification set out in a letter sent on the king’s behalf on Monday, September 7, 2026.
The letter came from the lord chamberlain, the royal household’s most senior official, and reached senior government and military officials, along with lord lieutenants, who serve as the king’s personal representatives in areas across the country. It said the couple will keep refraining from using the royal highness style, as they have since stepping back from official duties in 2020, and that any charitable work they take on is done privately. Day-to-day security decisions, it added, are for the police forces involved.
“To help avoid doubt or confusion, The King has directed that (this) information be shared,” the letter from the lord chamberlain says.
What the Letter Sets Out
The document said the arrangement, originally agreed with the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2020, gave the couple personal latitude over their financial independence and their privacy, and that nothing about their standing has changed.
“In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests,” the letter said.
Harry and Meghan keep their Sussex titles. A spokesperson for the couple said they were told only shortly before the letter went out and were surprised by what occurred. The pair are reported to reject the private-citizen framing and to have asked instead for a public-figures designation. Questions from official and state bodies about what courtesies should be extended to them, particularly where public money might be involved, should go to Buckingham Palace, the letter said.
The letter restates an existing position, but the decision to send it and to publish it reflects unease among some palace watchers that the couple’s standing could let them build a rival court that competes with working royals.
A Return That Caught the Palace Off Guard
Harry, Meghan and their two children moved back to Britain in August, six years after giving up royal duties amid a long stretch of family estrangement. The king learned of the move only days before it became public: official notification reached him on August 16, and the story broke on August 19.
Harry’s representatives gave the security committee fewer than two weeks’ notice of the relocation — well under the 28 days that the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) stipulates — sources have said. The compressed timeline was said to be linked to fears the plan would leak, late confirmation of the children’s school places and Harry’s wish to tell his father before any announcement.
The Security Fight Behind the Letter
Security is a particularly sensitive strand of the dispute. Harry forfeited his automatic right to publicly funded police protection when he stepped back as a working royal in 2020, and he has waged a long-running fight with the government to have it restored. RAVEC, not the palace, decides what protection he receives at public expense.
Neil Basu, a former royal protection officer who once oversaw security arrangements for Harry and Meghan, said on the podcast “The Crime Agents” that he was surprised the duke had not been given the full package, citing the danger posed by Islamist extremists and the extreme right. “He only wants it because he’s genuinely in fear of his life, and more importantly, his wife and children,” Basu said.
People close to the couple argue the calculation has shifted now that the family lives in Britain. They say the committee put off a resolution for seven years, that Harry and Meghan followed rules that kept moving, and that the couple’s location — once central to the decision to scale back his protection — is no longer a barrier.
One source close to the matter said the king cannot intervene, or appear to lean on the committee, without risking a constitutional overstep, and is presumed to share the concern that his son and grandchildren are receiving no police protection despite ranking fifth, sixth and seventh in line to the throne. The source called the situation untenable.
The family is believed to be living at a confidential address in the U.K., and Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet are due to start at a preparatory school next month. Since the move, Harry has accused the royal family of neglecting him, blamed the tabloid press for wrecking his life and faulted the government over the automatic police protection he says he needs to come home. In that period the couple signed a series of commercial deals, most notably with Netflix, and Meghan launched the lifestyle brand As Ever.
The committee that determines Harry’s protection was due to meet this week to decide what publicly funded security his family should have now that they have returned to Britain.