The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to move back to Britain, a surprise announcement that has left old friends excited, the palace wary and the public unconvinced. The couple, who left the UK in 2020, have reportedly enrolled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in school and plan to live outside London.
Old friends react with surprise and excitement
A very old friend of Prince Harry said, "You could have knocked me down with a feather. So, so surprised but excited too. Since he has left I saw him once when I was in the States when I flew to the West Coast for work. Hardly anyone sees him when he visits the UK, apparently he has back-to-back events."
Despite the bridges Harry burnt with his old gang after Megxit, the friend added, "Although lots of us felt like he was darking us since he went rogue, I have to say everyone is pretty excited about him coming back. Maybe it will be like old times. Or if not old times, it would be nice if our kids could play".
The official information remains scant, with Harry's old friends either none the wiser or, as in the good old days, closing impenetrable ranks. What is remarkable is how these seismic plans could have been set in motion with no one any the wiser, a feat of secrecy that suggests either a terrifyingly efficient pace or an impressively unleaky bubble.
Palace sources divided on the King's involvement
It has been widely reported that the King was informed on August 16, just three days before the rest of the world was briefed. If this was the case, it seems high-handed and inconsiderate, echoing Megxit when the Queen and palace frequently felt blind-sided by Sussex announcements.
However, a source inside the palace says, "Although I admit that I myself was as dumbfounded by the news as anyone else, I would be very surprised indeed if Harry had not consulted his father. My suspicion is that even they would not have sprung this on the King. Even they would know that would be a bad idea and more than that, that the King holds the purse strings."
Queen Camilla is said to be more wary. "She is suspicious of Harry and his motives, as well as understandably wounded over her treatment at his hands. Especially in that book he wrote," says a palace source. "Her position, though, is that if the King is on for forgiving and forgetting, she will try to forgive, though forgetting will prove rather more challenging."
Public opinion and financial pressures
A recent poll shows Prince Harry polls at just 34 per cent popularity while Meghan comes in at 26 per cent, and only 27 per cent of the country want them to come home. The Prince and Princess of Wales are said to harbour not the faintest intention of thawing.
Prince Harry's lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited, which accused the publisher of the Daily Mail of gathering information by unlawful means, was dismissed, and Harry and co-claimants like Liz Hurley and Elton John have been ordered to pay damages of £34.5 million, on the grounds that claims were "unreasonable to a high degree". With rumours of a growing rift between the Prince and Elton John, who has no intention of footing the entire bill and is said to have complained of being used "as a human ATM", it seems unlikely that Harry will get out of paying his fair share of the costs.
After losing a case for state-funded security for his family last year, Harry told the BBC: "I can't see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point," and so it would seem that something has changed behind closed doors since then. The Home Office refuses to comment on what they call private security matters, and although it does seem likely that the Government has agreed to some form of taxpayer-funded security, it seems almost certain that the security conscious Sussexes will have to take on a substantial chunk of the annual £5 million bill out of their own purses.
Theories about the motive for the move
Theories about how the couple intend to pay their way are various. The initial rumour that Meghan was set to star in the Guy Ritchie series The Gentlemen was called into question over the weekend, with former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown claiming that the offer of the part had been withdrawn because of an overwhelming anti-duchess "backlash".
A school friend of Harry's, who works in property, says, "I have heard that they've got a stonking deal to rent out their Monte-whatsit place. Apparently it will more than cover the rent of the place they have found here, and then some." While a royal expert says: "Now that Prince Harry is back on terms with his father, I would not be at all surprised if he offers him some sort of allowance. There is of course huge precedent for this, in fact most of the royal family have their life subsidised to some degree or another personally by the King. It has always been thus".
What everyone wants to know is what the Sussexes are really coming home for. At the cynical end of the spectrum, the line of argument goes that with the King nearing the end of his life, this is the moment for ingratiation. It has been made very clear that Harry and Meghan will not be taking on official duties, but they might be hopeful that as grandchildren of the monarch, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet will one day become serving members of the royal family.
It is no secret that the American dream didn't quite work out as planned. Between unrenewed Netflix and Spotify contracts, and rumours of a slow disenchantment with the LA lifestyle, is it any wonder Harry wants to come home? There might also be a hope that a chastened press, having learnt their lesson, will give the couple an easier ride than last time. The biggest reason, however, is likely to be less positive: making hay and forming alliances while the sun shines, because if palace sources are correct and the King is as gravely ill as is said, there might not be much time left before the chill wind of William's reign blows in, where if still friendless and ostracised, Britain will become a very cold place for them to be indeed.
