Six years after Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK, the couple are preparing to return with their children. Speaking on HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast, Royal Editor Emily Nash explains why the timing makes sense now, what appears to have changed over security, how the royal family may respond – and whether coming back could bring the Sussexes closer to the royal fold once again.
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Why now?
Q: How surprising was the news that Harry and Meghan are returning to the UK?
Emily Nash: "It's really interesting because there's been quite a build-up to this story. In the last few weeks, there have been briefings around that they wanted to spend more time here as recently as last weekend, in fact. And there have been a lot of conversations about how Harry would like to spend more time here if his security was guaranteed. We had that visit just back in July, which went very well after quite a few hiccups in the first couple of days. But crucially there was that reunion with King Charles. And so it set the stage."
"But even friends of the couple, I think, have been surprised by this announcement, even if they may have thought it was on the cards, they weren't expecting it and found out at the same time as most of us did."
Q: How long has the move been in the works?
Emily Nash: "You can see this has obviously been many months in the planning. It would be something that I think people thought might happen, people close to the couple, but hadn't expected it to happen quite as quickly as it did. I think that while this is something they've been thinking about for a long time, they've made the decision relatively recently. So it was a question of everything coming together at the right time.
"And my understanding is they feel like now is the right moment, particularly for the children because of the ages they're at, to bring them in, start them in the new school year, and get them settled into life in the UK.
"But a lot of water has gone under the bridge since Harry and Meghan left. Not all of it in has been resolved. In fact, a great deal hasn't been resolved. I feel like there is a bit of a mountain to climb for them in terms of both public perception in the UK, but also in how they're going to be welcomed or not by the rest of the royal family."
What has changed over security?
Q: Harry has previously said he could not bring his family back because of security concerns. What appears to have changed?
Emily Nash: "Well, there's a bit of a three-way silence on this particular angle of the story. And as we know, Harry said as recently as last year, he couldn't see a world in which he would bring Meghan and the children back to the UK because he feared for their lives. You know, he was really talking about it in such stark terms.
"I mean, the fact that the meeting with the King went unnoticed back in July until they announced it. And the fact that they were able to move about, and we know have quite a lovely summer holiday in the United Kingdom without being seen by anyone really showed that that wasn't necessarily the case.
"But that being said, obviously some kind of arrangement is now in place that they are satisfied with, and that has meant they are happy to move back here."
"Now, sources close to Harry are not commenting on it at the moment. The Home Office, interestingly, is also not commenting, saying they wouldn't get into specifics of individual cases. Because naturally that could undermine any security provision. And then even Andy Burnham, our new Prime Minister of only about 10 minutes, has come out today and said that it's a private matter.
"I think a lot of members of the public might disagree that it's a private matter. This is something that's gone through the High Court in this country. It's been the subject of endless legal wrangles by Harry. And the suggestion that he may now be receiving taxpayer-funded security is one that people will want to fully understand. But I think that's something that's going to come out in the next few days. It feels to me like they are dropping this story bit by bit to let people get used to the idea."
© Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesWhy tell the King now?
Q: Why did they wait until so close to the announcement to tell the King?
Emily Nash: "Well, I think that it's probably not the first he's heard of it, to be honest. I think that it would be extraordinary if they hadn't mentioned to him the fact that they were considering this. But I think they then presented it to him as a kind of done deal just on Sunday.
"So as much as he may have been having conversations with his dad about this, they actually have pushed the button quite late and not a moment too soon, you know, because those children will be starting school in just two or three weeks from now.
"And inevitably other parents at the school are going to find out. They will naturally, if there are extra security precautions in place, will have been told by the school. And aside from anything else, they will want to get into their new home, wherever that is, and settle in and feel ready for day one of a new school with the children. And so people are going to start seeing them and noticing them and talking about them. So they have to go now."
© Instagram'Harry's chance to come home'
Q: Beyond the children's education, why are they coming back?
Emily Nash: "I think there are quite a few factors going into this. And, you know, people close to them will say it is about the kids' education. Harry wanted them to go to school in the UK. But I think it's also about proximity to Harry's roots and his family."
"You know, he has talked so much about wanting to spend more time in the UK, of being patriotic and passionate and wanting to share that experience with his children, but also about wanting to build a relationship with his father for his children."
"You know, and he talked about it in fairly direct terms a little while ago. He said he didn't know how long his father had left, which went down extremely badly. The King, as we've heard from Queen Camilla just this week, is coping. He's doing well. He has kept going in spite of this regular cancer treatment. But he is 77 years old. It's been a very long time having his grandchildren at the other side of the Atlantic. And I think that having had what was clearly now a successful meeting at Highgrove earlier this summer, they want to capitalise on that and move on from there.
"And I think it also helps with their brand. I'm not saying that they're just doing it for those reasons, but they are famous because of their royal role, their connections with the royal family.
"But Harry has so much here that has been his life's work. So the Invictus movement, for example, WellChild, there are all these charities that he wants to give more to. And it's harder for him to do that when he's across the Atlantic.
"But there is also a sense of them probably wanting to come back into the fold. Whether or not the wider royal family will allow that though, we'll have to wait and see."
A foot on both sides of the pond
Q: Do you think they will keep their home in Montecito?
Emily Nash: "I think it's much more likely they'll keep it actually, unless they're really forced into making some kind of financial arrangement. But I think they'll want a foot on both sides of the pond. Absolutely. "They still will want to see Doria. They have their community in California. Meghan has her business interests there. I can't see a world in which she wouldn't come back and forth."
"And crucially, that is what they wanted at the very start of Megxit when they went to the Sandringham Summit. What they wanted was a deal where they could go off and pursue their financial freedom, they could have a foot in both camps, they could come back and do their charity work in the UK.
"And this feels very much like they've kind of forced this to come about, just through the passage of time, through geography, and through the sort of desire, I suppose, of the King to reconcile with his son as well. I think it's absolutely fascinating."
© GettyQ: Could that eventually mean some kind of 'half in, half out' role?
Emily Nash: "The mood music from the palace is very much no comment, but it's been made very clear to me that there's no half in, half out option. There wasn't under Queen Elizabeth II. That is not going to change anytime soon.
"But I suspect that people in the Sussex camp would like to see that stance soften. I think they feel that there's a world in which they could do some work that would complement the royal families, that would be contributing to their work."
"And you have to look at other members of the royal family like your Princess Anne's, like William and Kate, who are shouldering all the responsibility, doing all the work, but not going off and feathering their own nests and pursuing their own commercial deals. And they're going to be questioning how on earth can they be allowed to do that?"
What does the move say about the King?
Q: Could the decision to return be an insight into King Charles' health?
Emily Nash: "Look, I don't think it correlates that strongly. I think that he has been unwell for a while. He's actually in a fairly good place as far as we can tell at the moment. But he is 77. No one will take their parents' health for granted when they're at that age."
"And being that far away from a loved one, you're never going to feel like you're getting enough time with them. And the King, of course, is an incredibly busy man, even despite everything."
"He works round the clock. We know that when he has a free 20 minutes, he'll find something to fill it with. So the chances of you spending time with him are vastly improved if you're on the same side of the ocean and you can just pop in and have tea with him or you can pop in and see him at Highgrove at the weekend."
© Getty ImagesThe William and Catherine question
Q: How do you think the Prince and Princess of Wales received the news?
Emily Nash: "Well, what is intriguing about this is the complete radio silence coming from that end of the spectrum. And what's interesting about it is that they're normally away at this time of year. I imagine they're not delighted about this.
"It's going to be a very, very difficult hill to climb, having them suddenly back in the UK, popping up, doing things publicly, if that's where they go with this. so much has been said and done that has damaged that relationship almost beyond repair. I can't see a world in which they would be welcoming them back with open arms."
"But you would anticipate that the King will have spoken to William about this if he was made aware. We believe the Waleses were made aware in that interim period. They didn't find out at the same time as the rest of the world. So they've had time to process this."
Could they actually have more privacy here?
Q: Meghan has previously raised concerns about being photographed while doing something as ordinary as the school run. Is that likely to happen?
Emily Nash: "Well, how many photographs have you seen of William and Kate doing the school run in all the years that those children have been at Lambrook and at Thomas's beforehand?
"There is in this country no market for images of the children, and of course, the really strict rules around the reporting on children, particularly when they're in education under the Editor's Code of Practice, which we all adhere to. Obviously, social media is a law unto itself, but really that argument never really held water for me.
"I feel that they're much more likely to get papped in Los Angeles or in California than they are in the UK. I mean the biggest risk to any children in the public eye right now is just a passerby on the street, right? Who can just lift up their smartphone and take a photograph. But that never really held water that argument for me. And the fact that they have come back now and they are going to be at school here proves that it's not that much of an issue."
Q: Their visit earlier this summer also seems to have shown that they can move around privately.
Emily Nash: "I'd say so. I think the fact that they came here and spent 10 days or whatever it was in July and were able to go about their business, they were able to visit Althorp, they were able to go to Scotland, they were able to visit friends all over the place.
"That all went completely under the radar. There was no mention of it anywhere in the media, and it just proves that it's entirely possible for them to live privately here if they choose to."
What will their working lives look like?
Q: Will they carry on with their existing work once they are in Britain?
Emily Nash: "Look, I think that is possibly part of their thinking. I think that they're going to carry on with what they're doing already. So Meghan will be managing As ever. She'll be working on that, probably at some weird hours now because her team are in LA, as we know. But that's business as usual, as far as we know.
"Harry's going to carry on doing what he's been doing all along. He has this role at Better Up, for example. He's going to be doing more, as you can imagine, with Invictus, for example. And that's worth mentioning because this is a crucial year for the Invictus Games. It's going to Birmingham next summer. If he's on the ground here, there's so much more he can do to support the veterans, but also to highlight this.
"He's going to be doing more with his charities and organizations on the ground because he'll physically be here and able to do it. And from a couple of people I've spoken to at those organizations, there's a lot of excitement about the fact that he's going to be much more available."
"And I think that probably he's missed this side of his life. It's what he's always known. It's actually what he is good at, he's very great with young children, for example, with veterans."
"But there is the the risk that they then are going to be accused of absolutely having their cake and eating it because they don't have the responsibility. They can live a private life, but they will be able to pop up and make the most of their association with the royal family and with the organisations they supported well in the royal family.
"So you can imagine that'll probably turn a few heads within the family. There'll be a lot of questions asked about that."
© The David Foster Foundation viaWho is in their UK 'village'?
Q: If it takes a village to raise children, who do Harry and Meghan have around them here?
Emily Nash: "That's a really good question. Well, we know they've certainly got lots of friends here because they spent time staying with some while they were here in July. Obviously, the family situation is a lot more tricky.
"Harry has in the past been very close to Princess Eugenie, for example. We know she's in Portugal at the moment. She's just given birth to her baby daughter Adelaide. And I think they're perhaps not as close as they once were. The same goes for Princess Beatrice."
"I can't imagine that William and Kate are going to be popping up anytime soon and offering to babysit. But we do know they've got lots of friends. The children have godparents living in the UK and they do still have a connection to Earl Spencer, and his wife Cat Jarman."
'For Meghan, this will have been a harder decision'
Q: Do you think Meghan has made the bigger compromise by returning?
Emily Nash: "I think of the two of them, yes. This will have been a harder decision. She has talked so much about struggling in the UK, the fact that she was away from friends and family, being within the royal family. She obviously had a lot of issues, and she certainly blamed the UK and the media and various other elements for their decision to leave.
"She has more to turn her back on in California. But they've gone and they've done that. And let's not forget she was only in the royal family for about 18 months altogether. And so they have gone and lived many more years than that in America. And they've decided it's time for a change. And this is Harry's chance to come home, just as she had that chance to go home. But yes, it will have been a compromise, I'm sure."
Does being royal still matter?
Q: Does proximity to the royal family also matter to Harry and Meghan's public identity?
Emily Nash: "This proximity to the royal world, you know, the longer they are away from it, the longer they live as private citizens in the United States, the more that kind of magic wears off. And they just become any other celebrities, you know, living in California.
"But what they have is their association with the King in particular, Harry is the King's son. This is what he was born into, but there's no denying that so much of the attention that they have been given over the years, not just by the public, but by brands and people offering them commercial deals, has come about because of their royal status."
© UK Press via Getty ImagesCould Christmas bring a reunion?
Q: There is already talk about the possibility of a Sandringham reunion at Christmas. Is that realistic?
Emily Nash: "I think this is going to be very much one step at a time. And from people I've been speaking to who know them, I think they're very much working on the basis of let's get the children settled, let's get started on what we want to do, and then the rest is something to consider down the line.
"But crucial to them is the relationship with the King. You can't go any higher than him. And if you have him on side and you are spending time with him, then that does half of the work for you."
"And there is a risk, I think, that other members of the family continuing to avoid them, it might make them look petty or unforgiving. Now, there's a lot that would need to be forgiven. Let's be honest about this. And you can absolutely understand why William and Kate might never want to go there. You know, their decision to leave affected that whole generation of the royal family. And it's left a lot of responsibility on not just William's shoulders, but on those of his children. And then you've got all the things that they said, about how they were too formal and they didn't like being hugged. William pushed Harry into a dog bowl, broke his necklace. It's endless. So how can you possibly sit in a room and make small talk with somebody who has betrayed you on an international scale.
"So you can absolutely see from their point of view, they want to focus on their own families. They want to focus on their work and on their future. I think it's going to be a long time waiting to see that reunion happen."
What happens next?
Q: Do you expect Harry and Meghan to give a major interview explaining the move?
Emily Nash: "I would be amazed if they made a decision like that, given everything that's happened in the past, if their aim is indeed to move back into the royal fold, whether that's just as private citizens who want to have a family relationship or whether they want to have some semi formal role in future, it would be absolutely catastrophic for them to start saying any more about private conversations.
"There's nothing to stop them talking about their own reasoning. But I think if anything that they've learned over the last six years, it's that airing your private business in public is going to cause you a lot of grief in the long run."
Q: What are the biggest unanswered questions now?
Emily Nash: "There's so much that hasn't been explained, and stuff is coming out already. But I think particularly the security detail is absolutely fascinating. How is he going to pay for that? Who is going to help him pay for that? What does that mean for their property portfolio? What are they going do for work? Well, they're going to carry on doing what they've been doing.
"What are they going to do that makes the difference, other than them spending time with the King and Harry getting to do more with Invictus and Wellchild? Will their lives look that different?"
"I mean, for Archie and Lilibet, things are going to look incredibly different. They're going to suddenly probably be the only kids in their local school with American accents. So there are a lot of changes that they need to get their heads around. It's going to be something we're going to be talking about for weeks to come."
