Prince Harry is preparing to return to Britain, more than six years after he and Meghan Markle stepped away from royal life and moved to California. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to return with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet later this month, with their children set to begin school in Britain when the academic year starts in September.
Harry's homecoming comes after years of public allegations and revelations about the Royal Family, the monarchy and the country he once represented as a working royal. Since Megxit, the Duke has spoken openly in interviews, a Netflix documentary and his memoir Spare, lifting the lid on life behind Palace walls.
Along the way, he has taken aim at everyone from his father and brother to Queen Camilla, Palace aides and the British press, while making a series of claims about what went wrong inside the House of Windsor.
Race and the decision to leave
One of the most explosive allegations came during Harry and Meghan's March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, when Meghan revealed there had been “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”. When Harry joined the interview, he confirmed a conversation about their future child’s skin colour had taken place, admitting: “At the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked.” The Duke refused to reveal who was involved or exactly what had been said.
Harry initially said racism had played a “large part” in the couple’s decision to leave Britain during the Oprah interview. But two years later, the Duke pushed back when ITV’s Tom Bradby suggested he and Meghan had accused the Royal Family itself of racism, responding: “No, the British press said that.” Harry instead drew a distinction between “racism and unconscious bias”.
Speaking to Oprah, Harry said: “I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped”, before adding: “My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave.” During a 2021 appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, he compared his upbringing to “a mixture between The Truman Show and being in a zoo”.
Palace conflicts and accusations
In the Sussexes’ 2022 Netflix documentary, Harry claimed: “They were happy to lie to protect my brother”, before alleging officials were “never willing to tell the truth to protect us”. He also recalled the January 2020 Sandringham summit, saying: “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me”, while claiming Charles said things that were “simply not true”.
The Duke alleged that a statement denying reports Prince William had bullied the Sussexes out of royal life was issued in his name without his approval. “I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that,” he claimed in the Netflix series.
Harry has repeatedly accused competing royal households of leaking and planting stories in the media, branding the practice “a dirty game” in the Netflix documentary. In his January 2023 interview with Anderson Cooper, he said his previous attempts to resolve matters privately had been followed by “briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife”, and declared: “There becomes a point when silence is betrayal.”
Family feuds and financial claims
Asked why he had described Queen Camilla as “dangerous”, the Duke replied: “Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image.” He pointed to “the connections that she was forging within the British press” and alleged there was an “open willingness on both sides to trade of information”.
Speaking to Oprah in 2021, Harry recalled: “I had three conversations with my grandmother, and two conversations with my father before he stopped taking my calls.” He also said: “My family literally cut me off financially”, explaining that the inheritance left to him by Princess Diana helped make his new life possible.
In his memoir Spare, Harry claimed a 2019 argument at Nottingham Cottage erupted after William allegedly described Meghan as “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”. According to Harry, William then grabbed him by the collar, ripped his necklace and knocked him to the floor. Harry also described William as both his “beloved brother” and “arch-nemesis”.
Security battle and future plans
Speaking to the BBC in May 2025, Harry said he could not “see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point”. In the same interview, he branded his treatment “a good old-fashioned establishment stitch-up” and claimed Charles “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff”, while adding: “I would love reconciliation with my family.”
Just months earlier, at the New York Times DealBook Summit in December 2024, Harry confirmed he planned to remain in the United States. The Duke has repeatedly alleged “briefings and leakings and planting of stories” involving royal households and the press, arguing that negative stories about him and Meghan could benefit other members of the family.
