Prince William sees no long-term future for his younger brother, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle in the U.K. and expects them to return to California, a source claimed in an account published Sept. 29, 2026. A wider gap has opened between the brothers since the Sussexes moved their family back to Britain, and the future king, it is said, is simply waiting for the couple to head back to the U.S.
Harry and Meghan returned with their children for what was expected to be an extended stay, and their arrival in August triggered a fresh review of their security arrangements. An unfavorable decision could see the family end the stay early and depart the country, according to sources.
Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet began at a British school in September after the Sussexes moved back to Britain at the end of August, but two days after starting, Harry and Meghan moved the children to a new school following a security threat. Both schools remain undisclosed. A Sussex spokesperson said the decision “was taken following a discussion about the practicalities of their current arrangement.”
What William Is Said to Think
The claims appeared in Closer Weekly, a U.S. celebrity magazine. For William, the source said, the couple “can’t leave soon enough.”
Another six months of the arrangement is more than William expects it to last, the source said, and the prince believes the couple will give up once they accept they cannot force the outcome they want.
Six years of homesickness have left Harry wanting to stay in Britain for good, the source said. The final call, though, is expected to be Meghan’s, and a stay of more than a few months is not something William sees her managing. A move back to the couple’s home in Montecito, Calif., strikes the prince as inevitable, the source said, and he does not regard his brother’s relocation as sustainable. As of the Sept. 29 account, the Sussexes were still waiting on the outcome of the security review, and the source said William was waiting for news of a flight back to America.
“It’s very hard for William to watch his father being so soft on them,” the source said. The source also said Harry is “being so blatantly disrespectful by cozying up to Charles Spencer right when he’s putting out this dreadful book,” referring to the book “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” and that Harry is “going off on his own to do this Diana documentary.”
The Security Review
Harry lost his armed, state-funded police protection in 2020, after he and Meghan stepped back from their roles as working royals and moved to California — the origin of the dispute. The U.K. courts have rejected his repeated attempts to overturn that decision. A separate title, Britain’s Closer magazine, has returned to the subject before, including an earlier cover built around a rumored setback in his security fight.
Reportedly, the prince is staying out of it. An insider said any intervention, in William’s view, would hand Harry ammunition to use against him, and that he is leaving the matter for the authorities to resolve.
As of Oct. 6, a source said King Charles wants to “heal the rift” between Prince William and Prince Harry with a service to honor Princess Diana.
Royal expert Richard Eden described the couple’s reported ultimatum as “akin to blackmail,” arguing it amounts to an attempt to force a favorable ruling. The consequences would be far-reaching, Eden said: protection for the Sussexes, he argued, would let them come and go while retaining police cover, and they could then ask for that protection in America, leaving taxpayers to carry the cost.
Earl Spencer, Harry’s maternal uncle and brother of the late Princess Diana, has argued the Sussexes should receive official protection. Spencer, who is 62 years old, cited his nephew’s position as fifth in line to the throne and his military service. His own loss in the 1997 Paris car crash that killed his sister informed the argument, with the earl likening what Diana endured to the tabloid treatment of Harry and Meghan. Granting protection, he said, is the side he would come down on rather than risk a death he believes could have been avoided.
An Apology and a Service
Harry and Meghan intend to apologize to the royal family for their 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, a source said. “They really want a sit-down so they can address what they said, and Meghan will apologise,” the source said. The same source said the couple are “feeling optimistic about being back in the UK.”
Another source said Meghan “has been venting” to Ellen DeGeneres about William and Kate. “Ellen and Meghan are very close,” the source said. Another insider said Meghan has wondered whether moving back to the U.K. was a mistake, and that “Ellen totally understands why Meghan would want to throw in the towel.”
