The return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex marks the latest bombshell in the long-running saga surrounding the couple since the Megxit crisis.
The Megxit Announcement and Sandringham Summit
Harry and Meghan announced in January 2020 that they wished to step back as senior royals in favour of a dual life, earning their own income in the US while continuing to support the monarch. Queen Elizabeth II convened a Sandringham summit to resolve "Megxit", with the outcome being that the Sussexes' semi-royal role was deemed unworkable – they were either in or out. Six years on, they are returning to the UK and setting up home once again, with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet enrolled in British schools.
The couple relocated to California and stepped down as senior working royals entirely in March 2020, just as the Covid pandemic took hold. Yet they continued to cause controversy from across the Atlantic.
The Oprah Winfrey Interview and Bullying Allegations
During a television interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey while Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, was gravely ill in hospital in 2021, they alleged that an unnamed royal had made a racist remark about their son's skin tone before his birth, and claimed the monarchy had failed to support a suicidal Meghan. Meghan also disclosed that it was Kate who reduced her to tears at a bridesmaid dress fitting ahead of the Sussexes' wedding, and that the Palace declined to correct initial reports suggesting it had been the other way round. Harry's grandmother Elizabeth II refused to air the matter publicly, stating in a release that the issues raised would be addressed privately within the family, but that "some recollections may vary".
Meanwhile, Meghan faced accusations of bullying Palace aides, which she firmly denied, and the couple gained a reputation for being unable to hold on to staff. The Sussexes, no longer financially supported by the King, then the Prince of Wales, went on to secure multi-million pound commercial deals with Netflix and Spotify.
Megxit Becomes Permanent and Harry's Autobiography
Megxit became permanent in 2021 and the Queen stripped a devastated Harry of his military titles and royal patronages, with the Sussexes declaring they would continue to dedicate their lives to public service. They went on to welcome a daughter, Lilibet Diana, in June 2021, a younger sister to Archie – but their claim that the Queen gave her blessing for them to use her childhood family nickname left the monarch "as angry as I'd ever seen her", an aide revealed.
Harry and Meghan continued to level allegations in a Netflix documentary and the duke's bestselling autobiography Spare – both released in the months following the late Queen's death and at the outset of the King's reign. Harry claimed his "archnemesis" brother "Willy" physically attacked him and knocked him to the floor into a dog bowl in a dispute over Meghan's alleged rude behaviour, and that the King placed his own interests above Harry's, and was envious of Meghan and Kate. He also took aim at his stepmother Queen Camilla's reputation, branding her "dangerous" for her willingness to cultivate relationships with the British press, and claiming she sought to rehabilitate her "image" at his expense during a string of interviews promoting his book.
Security Battles and Recent Visits
Harry subsequently accused the royal family of a "horrible reaction" on the day Queen Elizabeth II died, claiming he was not invited aboard the plane carrying his relatives to Balmoral to be by her side. In a bitter blow, he was also denied the opportunity to wear his military uniform at his grandmother's funeral due to his status as a non-working royal. In the years since, the duke has made only a handful of visits to the UK. He attended the King's coronation in 2023 – without Meghan – but the trip was a fleeting one, with the duke, who had no formal role at the ceremony, departing immediately afterwards to fly back to the US on what happened to be Archie's fourth birthday.
Harry's decision to pursue legal action against the Home Office over his security arrangements in the UK is said to have created difficulties for the King as head of state, who was described at the time by the duke as having stopped taking his calls. When Charles was diagnosed with cancer in 2024, Harry dashed to London to visit him, yet the pair spent fewer than 45 minutes together before the King departed for Sandringham. The duke – who once said he had become "professional" at litigation – pursued legal action against the tabloids, achieving some success at the High Court, most notably after settling his case against the publisher of The Sun, receiving substantial damages and securing a "full and unequivocal apology" for both "serious intrusion" into his private life and that of Diana, Princess of Wales, and "unlawful activities".
In an ITV documentary about his battle, he said his determination to take on the tabloids was a "central piece" in destroying his relationship with his family, with the "rift" partly down to his crusade. Harry recently lost his High Court claim, made alongside a group of celebrities, against the Daily Mail's publishers over alleged unlawful information-gathering. Meghan, meanwhile, has endured relentless online abuse over the years, describing herself as the most trolled person in the world.
The pair established their Archewell Foundation focused on supporting humanitarian relief, campaigning for child online safety and backing community projects, later rebranding it as Archewell Philanthropies. Harry recently walked away from his Sentebale charity after nearly 20 years following a bitter dispute with its chair of trustees – a move described as "emotionally absolutely devastating" for the duke. The Sussexes signed a scaled-back first look deal with Netflix in 2025, after Meghan's lifestyle show With Love, Meghan was slated by critics. The couple's lucrative media deal with Spotify in 2023 collapsed after one series of Meghan's podcast Archetypes, with the company's executives branding them "grifters".
Life in Montecito for Harry has seen him taking his dogs for walks on the beach, surfing and spending quality time with his children in his Californian bubble and making comedy sketch appearances on US chat shows. Meghan has pursued her As Ever brand selling jam, wine and flower sprinkles. The pair have also focused on their philanthropic charity work, and Harry channelled his energy into suing the UK government over security, insisting his wife and children were not safe in the country of his birth. When he lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office over his security arrangements while in the UK in 2025, he told the BBC he "can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK".
But the Telegraph reported that Harry wanted a "refuge" in the UK and the "freedom to enjoy British summers, see friends and come and go without the 'circus' that has surrounded recent visits". The duke has enjoyed a rapprochement in his previously strained relationship with his father in recent months. Harry and Meghan took Archie and Lili to meet their grandfather for the first time in four years back in July, when the family paid a visit to Charles and Camilla at Highgrove in Gloucestershire. Yet no such reconciliation has taken place with William, who has had to cope with the "brutal" ordeal of both the King and Kate receiving cancer diagnoses in the same year. Following the release of Spare in 2023, Harry admitted he actually had enough material to fill two books. He said: "There are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don't want the world to know. Because I don't think they would ever forgive me."
