Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walked away from the British monarchy in 2020 and told the world they were never coming back.
This week, they announced they are returning to England – and a royal insider says the reason has nothing to do with family.
What a royal insider told Page Six about the real reason is something the couple has spent six years trying to prove wrong.
Megxit Is Over – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Moving Back to England
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle confirmed this week they are leaving their $14.5 million Montecito estate and moving back to the United Kingdom later this month.
The couple will settle in a private residence outside London.
Their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, will enroll in a British school in September.
The family is not selling the California estate – sources describe the move as an "extended period," not a permanent relocation.
Harry had a reunion with King Charles at Highgrove in July – the first time he had brought his wife and children to see the King in four years.
Just last year, Harry told the BBC he could not see a world in which he would bring his family back to the UK.
England, apparently, had other plans.
Royal Experts Call the UK Return an Admission of Failure
"A return to Britain is an admission of failure, whether Harry and Meghan are intellectually honest enough to admit it or not," royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told Page Six.
Schofield pointed to the most revealing detail: King Charles reportedly learned about the move on Sunday – days after the couple had already decided.
"If this were the product of some great royal reconciliation, you would expect the King to have been part of the conversation, not simply informed once the decision had been made," she said.
Royal reporter Tom Sykes told Page Six the move was a huge slap in the face for William and creates serious risks for the monarchy.
Prince William still refuses to speak to his younger brother.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis will not be seeing cousins Archie and Lilibet.
Nobody inside the palace has clean answers to what comes next – what happens when Charles invites Harry to Christmas at Sandringham, or when Harry wants to stand at Remembrance Day ceremonies alongside the brother who won't take his calls.
William endured both his father and his wife being diagnosed with cancer in the same year while Harry was in California selling grievance memoirs – and he is not in a forgiving mood.
How the Netflix Deal, Spotify Collapse and Megxit Exposed the Sussex Brand
Six years ago, Harry and Meghan had Spotify, a $100 million Netflix deal, and a lifestyle brand built to make them permanent fixtures in American entertainment.
By March 2026, a Netflix insider was telling Variety what the building already knew: "The mood in the building is 'We're done.'"
With Love, Meghan was not renewed for a third season.
Netflix dropped its investment in As Ever – Meghan's jam and tea brand – and was left sitting on more than $10 million in unsold inventory, putting the goods on card tables in office hallways and giving them away free to employees.
The Netflix deal was restructured into a narrower arrangement that gave both sides far less obligation to each other.
Schofield laid out the verdict: "They had America, Hollywood, enormous contracts, global name recognition and every conceivable advantage. And six years later, they're coming back. That is failure."
The late Queen Elizabeth II refused to allow a half-in, half-out arrangement in 2020 – she understood that the institution Harry was so eager to escape would not wait around for him to change his mind.
Schofield: "Royal status is not a buffet. You cannot reject the responsibility, commercialize the association and then drift back toward the institution when independence proves harder than expected."
Harry wanted to prove he didn't need the monarchy.
Moving back to Britain proves he did.
Sources:
- Kinsey Schofield, "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's UK Return Is 'an Admission of Failure,'" Page Six, August 19, 2026.
- Tom Sykes, "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's UK Move Is 'Huge Slap in the Face' to William," Page Six, August 19, 2026.
- Sara Nathan, "Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Really Moving Back to England," Page Six, August 19, 2026.
- Matt Donnelly, "Inside Meghan and Harry's Falling Out With Netflix," Variety, March 2026.
- Staff, "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Moving Back to UK in Shock Decision," Variety, August 19, 2026.
- Fox News Staff, "Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Hit Hollywood Wall as Expert Cites 'Toxic Brand,'" Fox News, April 14, 2026.