Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, are in no mood to engage with anything the Sussexes say or do, according to sources — and on August 21, 2026, the couple were photographed pulling away from the Balmoral estate in a convoy of cars alongside King Charles III, only days after the surprise announcement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving back to Britain.
Charles, 77, did his own driving, taking a hybrid electric Range Rover Sport Autobiography onto the A939 near the Aberdeenshire estate. William and Kate shared a Land Rover Discovery. Princess Anne, the king’s sister, was behind the wheel of a separate car, while her daughter Zara Tindall travelled with her husband, Mike Tindall, in another. At the wheel for Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, was his son James, Earl of Wessex.
A “Sussex Summit” in the Highlands
Part of the day was believed to have been spent grouse shooting near Corgarff Castle, about 30 minutes by car from Balmoral, a source indicated. The sheer number of senior royals arriving together earned the visit the label “Sussex summit,” and Charles and William are reported to have discussed the Wednesday announcement during it. Still, there is nothing especially remarkable about the gathering — the wider family has long made a habit of traveling north to Scotland every summer.
August 18 marked the start of the king’s annual stay. The Tindalls had arrived at the estate gates hours earlier for the traditional welcome ceremony, as had Anne’s son Peter Phillips with his new wife, Harriet Sperling. Lena and Mia Tindall were there too, along with Savannah and Isla, Peter’s daughters with his former wife, Autumn Kelly, and Harriet’s daughter, Georgina. William and Kate followed the next day with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Radio Silence From the Waleses
Neither William nor Kate has said a word publicly about Harry’s plans. Emily Nash, royal editor at HELLO!, pointed out that the couple would not usually be in Scotland at this point in the calendar. “Well, what is intriguing about this is the complete radio silence coming from that end of the spectrum,” she said on HELLO!’s “A Right Royal Podcast.” Her guess, she added, is that the news has not gone down well with them.
Years of public allegations have left the brothers’ bond close to irreparable, according to Nash, who suggested that William and Kate would find it hard to adjust should the Sussexes reappear in Britain and take up a place in the spotlight once more. “I can’t see a world in which they would be welcoming them back with open arms,” she also said of William and Kate.
William has no wish to patch things up with Harry as matters stand, said one source with knowledge of the family, and he and Kate see no reason to react to whatever the Sussexes announce or do. The two couples had no public exchange at the 2022 funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. A string of interviews that generated headlines widened the rift further, as did the Netflix series the Sussexes made and what Harry chose to disclose in his memoir.
Questions Over Security and Schools
Reports emerged on the night of Wednesday, August 19 that the Sussexes plan to be back in Britain before the end of August, having spent six years centered in the United States. The couple are holding on to the properties they own in Montecito and Portugal, while a private, non-royal home somewhere outside London will serve as their new base. Schools in the U.K. have already confirmed places for Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, and their term is due to begin in the opening days of September. Meghan is expected to go on running her lifestyle label, As Ever, from Britain.
A great deal is still unknown — above all when the move happens, where exactly the new home will be, and who will foot the bill for protecting the family once they have arrived in the country. Court battles with the Home Office over his British security arrangements have occupied Harry for years, following a downgrade in the protection he receives, and observers anticipate that funding will be one of the matters the family has to resolve.
Harry told his father what he intended on August 16, three days before the public statement, and William also received advance notice. Others in the royal circle, by contrast, are said to have been caught completely by surprise. Sources say it was never mentioned when Charles and Queen Camilla hosted Harry and Meghan at Highgrove at the start of July.
The king himself is said to welcome the idea of seeing more of his family. Harry, Meghan and the children had a private reunion with Charles during their last trip to Britain — a meeting that carried extra weight because 2022 was the last time he had laid eyes on Archie and Lilibet.
In one sense the family has come full circle from January 2020, when the couple revealed they intended to step back from their roles as senior working royals. The late queen used that Norfolk meeting, remembered since as the 2020 “Sandringham Summit,” to determine that there could be no halfway arrangement with the institution, and by March 2020 Harry and Meghan had settled permanently in California. Nobody at Balmoral has yet spelled out what the return means for the working monarchy — or for two brothers who remain estranged.
