The Unexpected Homecoming of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: A Forthcoming Test of Resilience in a Potentially Adverse Environment
On 19 August 2026, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun announced the impending return to Britain of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The news took everyone by surprise, including experienced royal watchers. It was reported that King Charles III himself had only become aware of the royal couple’s plans to return a mere three days earlier. Harry and Meghan will be moving into a private, non-royal residence somewhere outside London, and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, will start at an unnamed British school in September. They will remain financially independent as private individuals and will continue to be involved with their business enterprises and charitable work, including their own charitable foundation, Archewell, and the Invictus Games- an international multi-sport competition for wounded, injured, and sick serving or veteran military personnel.
It all began when Prince Harry went to Toronto in May 2016 for the launch of the 2017 Invictus Games. At the time, California-born Meghan Markle, who is three years older than Harry, was appearing as Rachel Zane in the legal drama ‘Suits’- an American cable TV series which aired from 2011 to 2019. This initial encounter was kept alive by a series of online text messages, culminating in a follow-up meeting in June 2016 at Soho House, a members’ only club in London. The burgeoning romance was soon being widely commented upon. The couple were first photographed together in public on 14 December 2016. Meghan disclosed her relationship with Prince Harry in the October 2017 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. Their engagement was announced by Kensington Palace on 27 November 2017. Meghan married Prince Harry on 19 May 2018 at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. The lavish celebrations on the day cost £32 million. The only member of Meghan’s family to attend was her mother, Doria Ragland-indicative of Meghan’s strained relations with her father, Thomas Markle, and her two half-siblings. Archie was born on 6 May 2019, followed by Lilibet on 4 June 2021.
Although some commented unfavourably on her mixed-race origins, and others on her divorcee status, Meghan was initially well received by a large majority of the British public. But turbulent times lay ahead, as it soon became clear that she found it difficult to accept the hierarchy, etiquette and unwritten protocols of the Royal Family. Despite a programme of orientation to the modus operandi of the British Royal Family, including baptism into the Church of England, it seemed that she sought celebrity status of the Hollywood kind instead. Stories of poor working relationships with staff members, leading to several resignations, soon followed. Public adulation turned to a wider condemnation of the couple’s actions.
On 8 January 2020, Harry and Meghan finally issued a public statement announcing that they would be “stepping back” as full-time senior royals” and would henceforth split their time between Britain and America, thereby setting off what came to be known as ‘Megxit.’ Following a crisis summit meeting between the Queen, Prince Charles, William, and Harry at Sandringham House on 13 January 2020, a statement was released five days later from Buckingham Palace confirming that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were about to “embark on the next chapter of their lives. As agreed in this new arrangement, they understood that they are required to step back from Royal duties, including official military appointments. They will no longer receive public funds for Royal duties. With The Queen’s blessing, the Sussexes will continue to maintain their private patronages and associations…. The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.” On 14 March 2020, the Sussexes flew to Los Angeles, as they began a period of self-imposed exile that was to last over six years. They acquired a $14.65 million estate in Montecito, an exclusive community in Santa Barbara County, California, where they have been based until now. They will retain this home, even though many are proclaiming the end of their “American Dream”
Prince Harry was clearly traumatised by the messy divorce of his parents, the untimely death of his mother Princess Diana, and by his father’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. The pain was dissipated during a period of partying, high jinks, and drug taking, which was followed by military service, which had a paradoxically calming influence. After two tours of duty with the British Army in Afghanistan, his military career ended prematurely with the disclosure of his whereabouts by foreign media outlets, despite a British media blackout. Upon return to Britain, he soon found a lasting enemy in the British press, which he repeatedly accused of unlawful invasions of his privacy. After initial successes in legal actions against the Mirror Group Newspapers in 2003 and The Sun in 2025, Harry, along with six other plaintiffs, lost a High Court privacy case against Associated Newspapers, publisher of Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, in July 2026.
Despite Prince Harry being fifth in line of succession to the British throne, his relations with the Royal Family have deteriorated over time. An acrid breakdown of the relationship with William and Kate saw the end of the ‘Fab Four’, while a candid interview with Oprah Winfrey on CBS in March 2021 and damaging revelations in his 2023 best-selling memoir ‘Spare’ only served to distance them even further.
The return of the royal couple, for reasons as yet unclear, has further divided public opinion in Britain, which is already rather polarised in the matter. Detractors of the Sussexes resent their dereliction of unselfish Royal duties in place of self-promotional and commercialised activities such as lucrative media deals (Netflix, Spotify), publishing contracts (Penguin Random House), podcast series, paid speaking engagements, and high-profile brand partnerships. Despite Meghan’s cultivation of an image as a feminist, an advocate of worthy causes (gender equality, empowerment of women), and a lifestyle influencer, many continue to be critical of a seemingly image-conscious and publicity-obsessed duchess. They also point to the mixed success of the couple’s various commercial ventures as indications of their poor judgement. Supporters sympathise with a prince, essentially good at heart, who has been traumatised by various unfortunate life events, and a duchess who can rightly be considered a victim of overt racism and unwarranted vilification.
There is much speculation over how the duke and duchess may choose to conduct their lives and business ventures once back in Britain, and the all-important matter of security remains to be finalised, especially the level of taxpayer-funded security they might be eligible to. There can be little doubt that their actions will continue to be scrutinised by the media in great detail, and criticised whenever felt necessary. Whatever happens, the hope remains that, as with all other fractured families, time will prove to be a healer and that cordial past relationships will be rekindled in due course.
Ashis Banerjee