The Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down in Britain on Wednesday, arriving privately from California with their two children, marking an abrupt end to the couple’s six-year stint in the U.S. and their American dream.
Harry and Meghan’s official return to the U.K. was reported by the BBC. Though a spokesperson for Harry told the outlet the arrival “is not something we would comment on” — a notably quiet response from the couple, which perhaps suggests a shift away from the celebrity spotlight they embraced in America toward a quieter, more private life.
News of the couple’s decision to jump back across the pond was met with surprise, though Harry has been gently laying groundwork for reconciliation in the 2½ years since his father, King Charles III, was diagnosed with cancer.
“There’s no point continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has,” Harry said during a candid 2025 interview with the BBC.
Months later, Harry briefly reconnected with Charles after the pair had gone 19 months without meeting in person. He has since met with his father periodically, while he and his older brother, Prince William, remain estranged.
Then, in their most significant step toward reconciliation since their royal departure, Harry, Meghan and their two children reunited with Charles and Queen Camilla during a July visit to the U.K. — marking the first time the couple had been in Britain together since attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022.
The couple announced their plans to relocate their family back to the U.K. just weeks later.
Both Charles and Camilla as well as William and Catherine were privately informed of the decision. Charles reportedly welcomes the opportunity to spend more time with Harry and his family, while William, the heir to the throne, has yet to comment on the news.
Why did Harry and Meghan move to the U.S.?
When stepping away from their roles as senior members of the royal family in January 2020, the couple announced that, following “months of reflection,” they would “carve out a progressive new role within (the royal) 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,” their statement continued.
The couple moved to California later that year and spent the following years explaining their decision to step back from royal life through high-profile interviews, a Netflix docuseries and a memoir, in which they made allegations of bullying, racism against Meghan and a lack of support for her mental health struggles.
Buckingham Palace responded at the time, saying in a statement that “some recollections may vary” but that the accusations were being “taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
The couple’s decision to publicly air their grievances fueled further fallout with the royal family. And when the revelations eventually quieted, they were left to prove that their life in America could stand on more than royal drama.
Several high-profile ventures — including massive deals with Spotify and Netflix — failed to deliver the success they sought, leaving their both their financial and professional ambitions seemingly unfulfilled, while their family relationships remained fractured.
So, did Harry and Meghan’s American dream actually deliver?
Harry and Meghan’s American dream slips away
Harry and Meghan’s American venture started off strong.
The couple’s explosive two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey drew an audience of more than 49.1 million worldwide, per Reuters. They maintained global attention while adding to the conversation surrounding their decision to leave behind their royal roles.
Shortly after stepping down from royal duties, the couple signed a $100 million deal with Netflix to produce an undisclosed number of TV series, documentaries, children’s programs and other content.
Their debut project with the mega-streamer, the bombshell docuseries “Harry & Meghan,” reached 28 million households during its first four days, becoming Netflix’s most-watched documentary debut at the time, per CNN.
Harry’s memoir “Spare,” which arrived on the heels of the docuseries, offered another tell-all account of the challenges of life as a working royal, including details about his strained family relationships. The memoir also drew enormous interest and enjoyed record-breaking sales.
But when the couple moved away from tell-all projects, public interest began to wane.
None of the couple’s subsequent Netflix projects matched the success of their debut docuseries. “With Love, Meghan,” “Heart of Invictus,” “Polo” and “Live to Lead” attracted modest viewership, leading the streamer to shift its arrangement with the couple to a reduced “first look” deal in March.
And their $25 million multiyear Spotify deal was abruptly severed in 2023 after the couple produced relatively little content and Meghan’s podcast “Archetypes” proved to be a commercial disappointment.
After the deal fell apart, Bill Simmons, a Spotify executive and prominent podcaster, bluntly dismissed the couple as “the grifters.”
Meghan tried again with a second podcast, “Confessions of a Female Founder,” produced by podcast network Lemonada Media, but it too failed to gain significant traction. Meanwhile, Harry’s own podcast ideas — including one focused on childhood trauma and controversial figures — never came to fruition.
Other projects from the couple suffered a similar fate.
Meghan’s lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, which she later rebranded as As Ever, failed to make a significant mark on the zeitgeist and faced lackluster reviews for its products.
Her most recent project, “Cookie Queens,” a documentary about Girl Scouts and their ambitions to sell cookies, fell short at the box office after it premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January.
The couple fell into a Hollywood pitfall that has caught countless others before them, explained Leo Braudy, a Los Angeles cultural historian and the author of “The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History,” per The New York Times.
“There has always been this aura here, this magical thinking,” said Braudy. “Everybody thinks, ‘I’m beautiful,’ or ‘I’m handsome.’ Everybody thinks, ‘If those people can make it in Hollywood, so can I.’”
“If there was an easy path to success in show business,” Braudy continued, “there would be a lot fewer flops in Hollywood.”
For Harry and Meghan, Hollywood proved a tough formula to crack. The enormous commercial and cultural success during their first few years eventually lost momentum, sending them back to the U.K. in search of fresh opportunity — and perhaps a greater chance to mend their fractured family ties.