By Michael Holden and Lisa Richwine
LONDON/LOS ANGELES, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Prince Harry and his wife Meghan plan to move back to Britain this month, six years after they stepped down from their royal duties and relocated to the U.S., a source close to the couple said.
The surprise move comes after the couple spent recent years repeatedly criticising the royal family and lambasting the British press, saying the tabloids had made their lives hell and they wanted to carve out independent roles for themselves.
The couple, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were moving with Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, from California to Britain for an extended period and the children would begin school there in September, the person close to them said, confirming details that were reported in the media.
King Charles, who welcomed having his youngest son and his family closer, found out about the move on Sunday, British media reports said. Harry and Meghan will not live in a royal residence and will remain non-working royals as agreed with the late Queen Elizabeth when they left in March 2020.
Harry's spokesperson and Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
COUPLE COMPLAINED ABOUT PRESS COVERAGE
Harry married Meghan Markle in a ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018, and it was hoped his union with the former actor would reinvigorate the historic institution for a new generation.
But it was not long before cracks in their relationship with the rest of the royal family began to emerge. Two years later in March 2020, they announced they would step down from official duties and move to the U.S., saying they wanted to move away from the intense press scrutiny they faced in Britain.
They settled in the wealthy seaside enclave of Montecito, near Santa Barbara, California, with media reports putting the 2020 purchase price of their 16-bedroom home at $14.7 million.
In the following years, Harry, now 41, and Meghan, 45, repeatedly criticised the royal family and the monarchy in TV interviews, a Netflix documentary series and, most notably, in Harry's memoir "Spare".
During a 2021 interview the couple gave to Oprah Winfrey, Meghan, whose mother is Black, said an unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their son Archie’s skin might be. Heir-to-the-throne Prince William, Harry's elder brother, responded by denying that Britain’s royals were racist.
Harry had some particularly barbed comments for his father, Charles, and Prince William, leading to a total breakdown in their relationship.
Harry was also angry the British government changed his security arrangements and said the lack of automatic police protection meant he was unable to bring his children to Britain.
STRAINED FAMILY RELATIONS
But relations with the king appeared to be thawing in September, and father and son met briefly for the first time in 20 months. Charles was diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer in 2024. He announced on television last December that he had responded "exceptionally well" to treatment.
Last month, Harry, Meghan and their children visited Britain, and Charles saw his grandchildren for the first time since 2022.
However, while the king welcomed the chance to see more of the Sussexes, he only became aware of the couple's plans to return to Britain on Sunday.
While Harry and the king's relationship might have improved, he is still barely on speaking terms with his brother.
British minister Lucy Powell, talking to the BBC on Thursday, said it was good news, adding that she hoped "the reconciliation with the family continues because I think that's good for the country ... to send out that signal".
Harry and Meghan embarked on several media ventures from their California home, signing multi-million-dollar deals with Spotify for a podcast series and with Netflix for programming including a lifestyle show hosted by Meghan.
The projects produced mixed results. Harry's tell-all book was a bestseller, but their podcast deal ended and Meghan's Netflix show was not renewed for a third season.
In recent months Meghan has published an increasing number of photographs on her Instagram account, showing Harry and their children and their U.S. life, often taken from behind the children to hide their faces.
"I think they didn't achieve the superstar status they wanted," said Dominic Patten, executive editor of Hollywood publication Deadline.com.
They did, however, keep the public interested in their story in a town full of big-name celebrities, Patten said.
"He and Meghan have kept that flame aflutter," Patten said. "If you look at how quickly Hollywood careers can burn out, on that level, by that metric, they've been successful."
(Reporting by Kate Holton and Michael Holden in London and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Dawn Chmielewski; Editing by Alex Richardson)
