LONDON: Six years after stepping down as working royals, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are moving back to the United Kingdom, British press reported late Wednesday.
In a surprise move, the youngest son of King Charles III, and his wife, Meghan, "plan to leave the United States by the end of the month to settle in a private, non-royal residence, which is said to be located outside London," The Telegraph said.
Several UK news outlets including the BBC reported the couple's two children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, had already been enrolled in a British school for the start of the school year in early September.
It was reported that the couple had already chosen a new house, but that it would not be one of the many royal residences.
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The Press Association said Charles had been made aware on Sunday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex planned to return to live in the UK.
The monarch "welcomes the opportunity to see more of the family in a personal capacity," but there will be no change in their status and the couple would still not be working royals, PA said.
The stunning news comes only weeks after Harry and Meghan visited the UK in early July with the children, during which they had a private meeting with Charles.
Harry and Meghan have lived in California since 2020 and the children had not seen their grandfather since 2022.
Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, left Britain for North America in 2020 amid a bitter feud with his family, which worsened as Harry published his tell-all memoir "Spare."
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He subsequently said he wanted to reconcile with his father, who was diagnosed two years ago with cancer and has been receiving treatment since. The type of cancer has never been revealed.
But even the run-up to the July trip was rocked by setbacks, with media outlets quoting sources close to Harry as saying the prince would be staying at Buckingham Palace in London — only for the palace to issue a denial.
The palace said Harry had not accepted the invitation to stay at the official residence of the British sovereign sufficiently far in advance.
Harry has long blamed the media for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 while trying to shake off the paparazzi.