‘Megxit’ Accomplished: Harry and Meghan Back in Britain, Bringing Chaos That Could Threaten the Crown

The return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children to Britain — a move known as “Reverse Megxit” — on Wednesday inaugurates a new and potentially explosive chapter in the modern history of a 1,000-year-old monarchy.Prince Harry — the youngest son of King Charles III — left his family’s realm, along with his wife, Meghan Markle, in 2020. They relocated to the coastal enclave of Montecito, California, and abjured the performance of their royal duties and yielded their royal titles. Six years later, the Sussexes are back.The Sussexes, who have enrolled their children — Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet — in a British school, did not appear to be accompanied by a police presence when they landed at Birmingham. The British Home Office has repeatedly determined that they are not entitled to comprehensive protection, a decision that has incensed the prince, who has in the past cited concerns for his family’s safety as precluding a return to his homeland.The return of the prodigal prince and his wife — a lightning rod herself — comes just a week after the Sussexes made it known that they were departing the Golden State. The British press is speculating that they will set up camp in the Cotswolds, a rural area of southwestern England that encompasses Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Recorded in the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror, the Cotswolds are known for their Jurassic fossils.The Cotswolds are about a two-hour drive from London, which would provide the Sussexes with a bit of a buffer with respect to the King and Queen — as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales. Princes Harry and William have reportedly had no contact since the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. In 2023, they both attended the coronation of their father as king but did not interact. The next year, they both attended the funeral of their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, at Norfolk but did not communicate.The rift between Prince Harry and Meghan and the rest of the House of Windsor grew into a chasm during the Sussexes’ American sojourn. During an appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s television show in 2021, the couple accused an unnamed member of the Royal Family of racism. Buckingham Palace responded that “some recollections may vary” but that the allegations were being “taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”Prince William told reporters that his family is “very much not a racist family.” During the interview with Ms. Winfrey, Meghan confided that during her brief time as a “working royal” she was so miserable that she “just didn’t want to be alive anymore” but was told that seeking psychiatric treatment “wouldn’t be good for the institution” — meaning the Crown. Prince Harry declared that he felt “really let down” by his father.Further wounds were opened by the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” in 2023. The book, which delivered the Sussexes a $20 million advance and sold like hot cakes, detailed a violent physical altercation between Princes William and Harry after Wales called Meghan “difficult,” “rude,” and “abrasive.” The duke also sharply criticized his father’s private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, referring to him as “the Wasp.”Prince Harry also alleged that Princess Kate made his wife cry, and that the Waleses encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform for a Halloween party in 2005 that was themed “Native and Colonial.” An uproar ensued when images of Prince Harry sporting a swastika were released to the press. Some 450,000 Britons died in World War II. Many credit the Battle of Britain, when fire rained over London, with slowing the relentless advance of the Third Reich.Prince Harry told Ms. Winfrey that he was surviving in America — the Sussexes bought a mansion at Montecito for $14.6 million — with “what my mum left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this.” The Sussexes, though, signed content-production agreements with Netflix for $100 million and Spotify for $20 million, in addition to the advance and royalties secured for “Spare.” Their professional future, though, is murky, as Meghan’s intention to return to acting has faltered.The prince returns to Britain newly in the red. He and a consortium of defendants owe Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, $13 million in the wake of a failed lawsuit against the tabloid for illegal and invasive newsgathering practices. That sum could rise to some $40 million. Prince Harry called that verdict a “complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected.”One bright spot for the Sussexes could be the hint of a thaw between the duke and duchess and the king and queen. Prince Harry once referred to Queen Camilla as a “wicked stepmother.” They all gathered for tea last month at King Charles’s private residence of Highgrove House. The BBC reports that the sovereign “welcomes” the return of his son and daughter-in-law, though no official statement has come forth from Buckingham Palace despite multiple public statements in recent days on other topics, including the death of singer Dolly Parton.The Prince and Princess of Wales have been silent on the return of the Sussexes.

‘Megxit’ Accomplished: Harry and Meghan Back in Britain, Bringing Chaos That Could Threaten the Crown

‘Megxit’ Accomplished: Harry and Meghan Back in Britain, Bringing Chaos That Could Threaten the Crown

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