Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived back in the UK on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, flying privately from California with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5 — six years after the couple stepped back from royal duties and moved to the United States. The return follows a private family reunion at King Charles’s Highgrove estate in July, the first time the King had seen Meghan and the children in person since 2022. A report by royal biographer Tom Bower, citing an unnamed source, described Camilla offering Harry tea with a ‘fixed smile’ in a ‘polite’ encounter; other outlets have characterized that account as an ‘olive branch,’ but neither Camilla nor Buckingham Palace has confirmed the characterization.
derivative work: Minerva97, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, 2020
Buckingham Palace confirmed to CBC News that the family is moving back to the UK, and said King Charles, who learned of the couple’s relocation plan on August 16, “welcomed the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity.” Beyond that, the Palace and representatives for Harry and Meghan have declined to comment on further details of the relocation.
Key facts
- Return date: Wednesday, August 26, 2026 — flew privately from California
- Children: Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5
- Time away: six years since stepping back from royal duties
- Reunion: private family gathering at King Charles’s Highgrove estate, July 10, 2026 — first time the King saw Meghan and the children in person since 2022
- Status: returning as private citizens; remain non-working members of the royal family
- Housing: reportedly house-hunting near Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds; the latest reports said no deal had been signed as of August 31
Timeline
- 2022 — Late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the last time the full family was together and the last time King Charles saw Meghan and the children in person
- May 2025 — Harry loses an appeal over the downgrading of his taxpayer-funded police protection
- July 10, 2026 — Private reunion with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House
- August 16, 2026 — King Charles learns of the couple’s relocation plan
- August 26, 2026 — Harry, Meghan and their children arrive back in the UK
- August 31, 2026 — Latest reporting available: no property deal signed yet in the Cotswolds
The Highgrove reunion
On July 10, 2026, King Charles and Queen Camilla privately hosted Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet at Highgrove House, the King’s private estate in Gloucestershire. Buckingham Palace confirmed the meeting took place. It was the first time the full family — Charles, Camilla, Harry, Meghan and both children — had been together in about four years, since the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
The meeting was kept private: no photographs were released, and both sides had reportedly agreed in advance to keep it out of public view. Prince William and Kate Middleton did not attend, and reporting has not confirmed why. Some outlets, citing unnamed sources and royal commentators, describe William and Kate as concerned about the Sussexes’ return, but neither has commented publicly, and no on-record account addresses their absence from Highgrove specifically.
What’s being called an “olive branch”
Royal biographer Tom Bower, writing in the Daily Mail and citing an unnamed source, reported that Camilla approached Harry with a “fixed smile” and offered him tea, and that the encounter was “polite with no recrimination.” That account is what other outlets have gone on to describe as Camilla extending Harry an “olive branch” — a characterization that traces back to Bower’s single unnamed source, not to Camilla, Charles or an official Palace statement.
Bower’s account comes with a caveat worth knowing: he’s the author of “Betrayal,” a book about the royal family that Harry has publicly called “deranged conspiracy and melodrama,” accusing Bower of having “crossed the line from criticism into fixation.” A separate claim in the same book — that Camilla called Meghan “brainwashing” Harry — was called “categorically untrue” by Meghan’s spokesperson. The Palace has not confirmed or denied the tea-and-smile account or the tenor of the meeting.
House-hunting in the Cotswolds
While they settle in, Harry and Meghan are staying at a friend’s home on the outskirts of the Cotswolds. Multiple outlets, citing unnamed sources, report they’re house-hunting near Stow-on-the-Wold, not far from Highgrove. Homes & Gardens and other outlets report the wish list includes:
- Around nine bedrooms
- Significant land
- A film studio
- No public footpaths crossing the property
The couple has not confirmed those details. As of August 31, the most recent reporting available, no deal had been signed on any property, and the couple hadn’t yet viewed homes with an agent. They’re keeping their Montecito, California home and a property in Portugal.
Reports differ on whether the UK arrangement is an extended stay or a longer-term primary base, and its permanence has not been confirmed.
School, duties and security
Neither Harry nor Meghan has stated a single official reason for the timing of the move. Coverage has variously pointed to wanting to be closer to family after July’s Highgrove reunion and to Archie and Lilibet starting British schools this September; reports have also discussed the unresolved UK security review, but neither Harry nor Meghan has confirmed a single reason.
Archie and Lilibet are enrolled in British schools for the term beginning this September, though outlets have not named the specific school. Harry and Meghan are returning as private citizens; multiple outlets report there’s no change to their status as non-working members of the royal family, and they won’t resume official duties on Charles’s behalf.
Harry’s UK police protection remains unsettled. He lost an appeal in May 2025 over the downgrading of his taxpayer-funded security detail. More recently, reports citing unnamed sources describe a fresh government review as “likely” to restore some protection — but no outlet has reported a final decision.