The Duchess of Sussex is taking the lead role in the couple’s return to Britain, writes TERRY MURDEN
As the Royal Family gather for their annual summer retreat at Balmoral, one topic will dominate conversation around the castle and the glorious Aberdeenshire estate. The return to the UK of Prince Harry with his Hollywood wife Meghan is setting off rumours around the possibility of reconciliation and how the couple will spend their time.
The likelihood is that Harry will be shaking a lot of hands and making speeches as he focuses on charity work and trying to win back the love he lost in his outpourings against his family, while the Duchess of Sussex will become the chief breadwinner, building her business from Britain, and resuming the role she knows best: acting.
Meghan is known to be in talks over a role in Netflix series The Gentlemen, a project that will continue the Sussex’s relationship with the streaming service that filmed the six-part story of their new life in the US. While the potential of that tie-in has not quite unfolded as expected, the UK chapter of the story clearly opens doors to both parties.
Discussions on the Duchess’s role in the Guy Ritchie created television series are in their early stages but this would be Meghan’s first significant acting role since she appeared in the US legal drama Suits in which she last appeared as the lawyer Rachel Zane in 2018 ahead of her marriage that year to the prince.
She recently made a cameo appearance as herself in forthcoming comedy Close Personal Friends, which stars Lily Collins and Brie Larson. Whether she is considering a longer term return to the profession is unclear, and there are questions over the ability of audiences to believe in any character she portrays, given her public profile.
However, it comes amid talk of the need to rebuild their finances, not least after Harry was ordered to pay a share of a $9.5m compensation bill for his part in an unsuccessful legal case against the Daily Mail.
Aside from acting roles, Meghan hopes to expand the global reach of her US-based lifestyle and cooking brand, As Ever. The brand, which she launched in 2024, sells a range of food and lifestyle products, including Napa Valley rosé wine. It currently ships only to the US and is not registered in the UK. She may have to re-register the business in the UK.
Relations with the rest of the family remain, at best frosty, with Queen Camilla said to be most opposed to any reconciliation, and resumption of any royal duties have been completely ruled out. William, Prince of Wales, is not thought to be keen on sharing a match-day visit to Aston Villa with his estranged brother, nor invite him to take up a role on the Duchy of Cornwall estate, which yields £23 million a year.
While Meghan tries to rekindle a relationship with those in Britain who resented the couple’s decision to quit royal life and then publicly air their grievances about the family, Harry is expected to spend his time on charity work and on his activities around the armed forces. Next year’s Invictus Games will be held in Birmingham.
When the spotlight is not turned on the couple, it will be focused on the hitherto mysterious children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, who have been kept from public scrutiny down to rarely showing their faces in photographs. It is understood the family will relocate to a private, non-royal residence outside London and that the children are enrolled to start school in September.
The King is said to be pleased that his younger son will be closer and that he will get to meet and develop a relationship with his grandchildren The move to the UK follows a visit in July by Prince Harry, Meghan and their children to see the King at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire. It was the first time the King had seen his grandchildren in person in more than four years.
The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), an independent body overseen by the Home Office, will now have to make a new decision about security as previous arrangements were based on the Sussexes not living in the UK permanently. That has sparked a new debate over how much it will cost and who should pay. Answers on a postcard.
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