Prince William is adamant there can be "no way back" for Harry and Meghan to re-join the Royal Family - amid the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's return to the UK.Royal sources have told how the Prince of Wales is "completely united" with the King in not allowing Harry and Meghan to achieve a 'half in, half out' role within the monarchy, after spending years railing against the institution.
Waleses Focused on the Future
Friends of the couple have said while they "cannot forgive" the Sussexes for their hurtful accusations against the Firm, they are determined to "look forward to the future". Charles and William were told at the same time on Sunday of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s plan to permanently relocate to Britain within weeks.
The news has sent shockwaves through the royal households, with insiders revealing how the royal family remain intensely wary of the Sussexes swapping their California base to set up home in the UK, six years after leaving their royal roles behind. The Sussexes are understood to have enrolled their two children, Archie, seven and Lilibet, five, in a British school and will live in a non-royal residence outside of London.
Royal Family in 'Complete Lockstep'
Sources close to the King and the Prince of Wales have confirmed the monarch and his heir are "in complete lockstep" in terms of not allowing Harry and Meghan to have a "half in, half out" role within the royal family. Despite the "considerable noise" and "suspicions" over the Sussexes' return, those close to the Prince and Princess of Wales maintain the couple remain focused on their own lives.
One source said: "Obviously the Sussexes' return will make inevitable headlines for a few days, but it has no bearing on the prince and princess' life moving forward. If anything, events that have affected them over the past couple of years have made them even more determined to concentrate on what is important to them, their family, their public roles and the ability to provide generational change for good with their public roles, and look forward to the future." Another source close to the Waleses said: “What Harry and Meghan choose to do is up to them. As far as William and Catherine are concerned they have left that period of their lives behind many years ago.“While they simply can not forgive everything that has been against them and the family, they do not have the time or the energy for any negativity or the drama that the Sussexes surround themselves with. As they have demonstrated with their public roles, everything they are trying to do is about positivity and making the world a better place as far as they can.”
William and Harry Not Speaking
The Prince and Princess of Wales have been “on a considerable journey” over the last two years, friends of the couple have told. The princess has had to contend with a cancer diagnosis in February 2024, at the age of just 42, as well as the family dealing with the announcement by the King just days earlier that he had also been diagnosed with the disease. While Charles and the princess took time away from royal duties, William also took a leave of absence to care for the couple’s three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, leaving the Queen to hold the fort and take on considerably more public duties.
Another royal source said: “During that time of considerable uncertainty for the family, while there were some mutterings that Harry was prepared to come back to the UK on a temporary basis to help out, given he had spent the previous four years railing against the institution, no one deemed his assistance worthwhile and nothing has changed now.” While the King’s position on his estranged son has softened considerably in recent years, making time to see Harry on three separate occasions when he has visited the UK as well as sources suggesting he is “delighted” at the prospect of seeing his grandchildren more regularly, the Prince and Princess of Wales have not entertained the duke of his wife.William has not spoken in person to his brother since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022. The brothers are understood to have not been in contact either on the phone or text message for at least two and a half years.
Sussexes' Relocation Plans
On leaving the royal family in a bid to secure their “financial freedom”, Harry and Meghan earned tens of millions in corporate deals with streaming giants Netflix and Spotify.Harry also earned a reported £16million advance from publishers Penguin Random House for his explosive memoir Spare, where he labelled the King an old man, referred to the Queen as a “wicked stepmother” and accused William of assaulting him during a fracas at his home in Kensington Palace. It is unclear where the Sussexes will base themselves in the UK, but sources close to the couple have revealed that they intend to rent out their nine bedroom mansion in Montecito, California which they bought in 2020 for around £12million.
The decision to relocate to the UK comes just six weeks after Harry secured a meeting with his wife and children with the King and Queen at the monarch’s Highgrove home in Gloucestershire. Harry had announced that Meghan and the children would accompany him on his week-long visit, and he had accepted an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace.However, he was forced to drastically row back on the plans just 24 hours later when it emerged that he would not be granted taxpayer-funded security for the visit.Security has been top of Harry’s agenda in his fight against the government after being stripped of police protection when he decided to quit his royal role. Harry, 41, said just last May how he could not see a time where he would want to bring his family back to the country of his birth, over his intense fears for their welfare. “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point,” Harry told the BBC in a sit-down interview following the devastating loss of his High Court battle with the government over his right to taxpayer funded security in the UK. He added: “And the things that they’re gonna miss is, well, everything. I love my country, I always have. Despite what some people in that country have done.” A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess has yet to comment on the reports of their relocation.
