Is Prince Harry Returning to a Royal Role amid Move Back to the U.K.?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving their family back to the U.K. with their children. What does this mean for the royal roles they stepped back from in 2020?

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving their family back to the U.K., PEOPLE understands

However, there will be no change to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s status as private individuals and non-working members of the royal family

Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped back as senior working royals in 2020 before moving to California

Amid Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s major announcement that they are moving back to Britain, what does this mean for their royal roles?

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are relocating their family back to the U.K., PEOPLE can reveal, after settling in California in 2020. Their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, will begin school there in September. The location of the family’s new home and the children’s school are being kept private.

The return to the U.K. comes six years after Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, announced that they were stepping back from their roles as working members of the royal family. PEOPLE understands that they will not be returning to official royal duties.

King Charles is said to have been clear that there will be no change to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s status as private individuals and non-working members of the royal family, in keeping with the wishes they expressed and the agreement reached when they stepped back from royal duties.

Insiders say any future royal role would have to be worked out with Harry’s father.

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Prince Harry and Meghan first announced their intention to “step back” from their roles as working members of the royal family in January 2020.

They said in a statement at the time, “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.”

Following a meeting dubbed the “Sandringham Summit,” the late Queen Elizabeth released a rare statement on her family. Of Harry and Meghan’s decision, the monarch said, “Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”

The couple subsequently relocated from the U.K. to Montecito, California, to raise their family. Harry returned to the U.K. numerous times after they moved to California, for charity events or legal hearings concerning his action against British tabloids and security protocols.

After stepping back from their royal roles, Prince Harry and Meghan created Archewell Philanthropies (formerly Archewell Foundation) as a hub for their charitable work. They also had deals with Spotify, Lemonada Media and Netflix, with projects via Archewell Productions. The Duchess of Sussex also created a lifestyle brand, As ever, which she will continue to lead after their move back to the U.K.

The news of Prince Harry and Meghan’s move back to the U.K. comes just weeks after the couple and their children reunited with the King, 77, and Queen Camilla, 79, at Highgrove House, the monarch’s private country residence in Gloucestershire, England. It was only the third meeting between Harry and Charles since the King’s 2024 cancer diagnosis, and it also marked the first time the monarch had visited with his grandchildren in more than four years.

The palace announced that there would be no photos released from the reunion and no details shared about what was discussed. “It is better that people don’t know anything about these meetings,” a source close to the family said at the time. “They should be allowed to rekindle those family ties.”

Sources recently told The Times that Prince Harry was “buoyed, very happy and really energized” by the meeting.

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Following that reunion, a source close to Harry hinted to The Times that Harry could be returning to the U.K. “more and more.”

“He’s happy these trips can now have more focus on the patronages and be less obscured by the other nonsense. He wants more of a foothold here, more trips back, less courtroom drama,” the source added, referring to the conclusion of Harry’s legal action against U.K. press. “And he always loves seeing his family.”

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While Prince Harry built a life for his family in Montecito, California, an insider who knows him recently told PEOPLE he’s “always had one foot” in Britain.

“He’s never lived a life here where he hasn’t been entangled in his past life,” said the insider.

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