Highlights:
Prince Harry and Meghan's California chapter began as an attempt to build a life away from the pressures of the British royal family. Six years later, the couple is preparing to spend an extended period back in Britain — a move that carries an unmistakably emotional weight given everything that has happened since they left.
The couple announced in January 2020 that they would step down as working royals. By June, they had moved to Meghan's native California with their young family, seeking greater independence from royal life and the intense scrutiny that came with it.
But their new life in the US was soon marked by revelations, family conflict and legal battles.
In March 2021, Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a highly watched CBS interview. Meghan said a member of the royal family had made a racist comment and that she had been pushed to the point of considering suicide. Harry also revealed that his father, King Charles, no longer took his calls.
The late Queen Elizabeth responded with a carefully worded statement: "The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately," the statement says.
The following years brought more difficult moments.
In August 2022, Harry filed a lawsuit against Britain's Home Office and the Metropolitan Police over security arrangements in Britain. A month later, Harry and Meghan were in the U.K. when Queen Elizabeth died. They remained for her funeral, temporarily returning to the country they had chosen to leave.
Then came 2023 and Spare, Harry's memoir, which exposed some of the most painful details of his relationship with his family. Harry wrote that his brother William had knocked him to the floor during a 2019 argument over Meghan. He also said William had called Meghan "difficult," "rude" and "abrasive." Harry revealed that he and William had asked their father not to marry Camilla Parker Bowles, who is now Britain's queen.
Harry attended King Charles' coronation in May 2023 without Meghan and did not sit with the other senior royals.
The family's troubles continued into 2024, when Buckingham Palace announced Charles' cancer diagnosis. Harry briefly returned to London to see his father. Soon afterward, Kate, William's wife, announced that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
The security dispute remained unresolved. In April 2025, Harry's lawyer warned during an appeal that his "life is at stake." Harry lost the legal challenge the following month. Later that day, he expressed a desire for reconciliation with his family, saying his father no longer spoke to him because of the security dispute and that he did not know how long the monarch had left to live.
Now, in August 2026, Harry and Meghan are preparing to move with Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, from California to Britain for an extended period. The children are expected to begin school there in September, although the couple will not return to royal duties, according to media reports.
Their move does not represent a return to royal life. Instead, after six complicated years in California, it appears to mark another attempt to find stability for their family — this time closer to Harry's roots, even as the wounds that drove them away remain.
