A question looms over Harry's return to the UK. Can he rebuild his relationship with Prince William?

LONDON: The royal family's long-running American soap opera is returning to Britain.

Key points

• Comes as King Charles III, Harry's 77-year-old father, continues to undergo treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer that was discovered in 2024.
• Oprah Winfrey asked Harry to summarize his reasons for leaving Britain in a 2021 interview that was broadcast worldwide.
• Associated Newspapers has filed documents showing that its costs amounted to 34.5 million pounds ($47 million).
• Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, plan to return to the United Kingdom from California in a matter of weeks.
• UK lawmakers to consider motion to release confidential documents related to former Prince Andrew Harry and Meghan wanted their children to grow up British.

LONDON: The royal family's long-running American soap opera is returning to Britain. The question is whether it will blossom into a happy reunion or descend into anger, division and chaos.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, plan to return to the United Kingdom from California in a matter of weeks. They have already enrolled their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, in British schools so they can start the autumn term with their classmates.

News of the surprise decision. It broke late Wednesday in stories published by the Telegraph and Sun newspapers, has sparked widespread discussion regarding where the couple will live, who will pay for their security and whether they will return to royal duties one day.

But perhaps the most tough problem is whether Harry can repair his once-close relationship with Prince William, the heir to the throne. It was decimated by Harry's particularly public complaints of mistreatment at the hands of Buckingham Palace staff, racism in the royal family and the failings of the monarchy. When they once again share the British stage, there are additionally worries that Harry and Meghan could try to upstage William and his wife Catherine.

"That will be something for the palace to deal with." Craig Prescott, an expert on the U.K. Constitution and the monarchy at Royal Holloway University of London, informed The Associated Press. "They wouldn't want Meghan and Harry's presence in the U.K. Here to overshadow the work of the monarchy, and there will have to be some discussion and allowance for that."

In practice, the couple are projected to live at a private, nonroyal residence outside of London and they won't resume their royal duties. It they provided up when they moved to the exclusive Southern California community of Montecito six years ago, British media documented late Wednesday.

Their return to the U.K. Comes as King Charles III, Harry's 77-year-old father, continues to undergo treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer that was discovered in 2024. The prince remarked last year that he didn't know "how much time my father has left, " and has expressed a desire for his children to have a chance to secure to know their grandfather.

While Harry and Meghan's decision is a surprise to plenty of, royal historian Ed Owens stated recent events created a pathway for the couple's return.

First, Harry spoke of his desire for reconciliation, then there was the apparently successful session between the king, his younger son and daughter-in-law and their children last month at Charles' Highgrove estate in western England. Furthermore, there is Harry's stated desire for his children to grow up British and that the U.K. Looks like a safer place to be right now, given the divisions in American society, remarked Owens, author of "After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?" Royal experts expect Charles to forgive Harry.

Finally, Owens remarked he expects Charles to forgive Harry as as the supreme governor of the Church of England he has to demonstrate the teachings of Christianity, including the virtue of forgiveness.

William may find forgiving his brother more tough, but someday he too will become head of the church, Owens stated.

"It may be that privately William never fully forgives his younger brother for what he deems the betrayal of the family, " Owens informed The AP. "But publicly, " he will, "because for traditional moralists, traditional Christian values, they demand that there is this public act of forgiveness, that there's reconciliation between the brothers."

Charles was informed of Harry and Meghan's intends on Sunday and the matter wasn't discussed during their recent visit to the U.K. Relations have been strained in the House of Windsor.

Relations between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family have been strained since the couple offered up their royal duties and moved to California in 2020 to earn their own living. The couple afterwards signed lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify.

Notably, the rift deepened after the couple offered a series of interviews and Harry published his explosive memoir "Spare, " in which he stated they left Britain to escape the restrictions of royal life. The couple additionally criticized palace office-holders for being insensitive to Meghan's mental health and alleged at least one member of the royal family had expressed racist views when she was pregnant with their first child. Meghan describes herself as biracial.

Oprah Winfrey asked Harry to summarize his reasons for leaving Britain in a 2021 interview that was broadcast worldwide. "Lack of support and lack of understanding, " he replied. Strains are exacerbated by long-running battles with the newspapers.

Those tensions were exacerbated by Harry's long-running legal battle with Britain's tabloid newspapers. It he alleges illegally hacked his phones and invaded his privacy when he was younger. The courtroom drama seemed to be nearing an end after Harry and other plaintiffs lost their lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail last month.

King Charles III seeks 'moral high ground' with pledge to support police as Epstein scandal deepens That case left Harry facing a potential bill for millions of pounds after the court ruled the plaintiffs were liable for the publisher's legal fees. Associated Newspapers has filed documents showing that its costs amounted to 34.5 million pounds ($47 million).

Harry has additionally been embroiled in a legal wrangle with the British administration after a administration committee refused to authorize police protection for him and his family when they are in the U.K. The prince notes they need armed police protection as they are at risk as members of the royal family, regardless of whether they are working royals.

In practice, the couple's security arrangements are a "private matter" for Harry and Meghan to accord with, Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated when asked regarding the problem on Thursday.

After Harry lost his court challenge of the committee's decision in May 2025, the prince remarked he hoped to reconcile with his family while continuing to vent his anger at those in Britain he feels have mistreated him and his wife.

"I can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. At this point, " he informed the BBC at the time. "And the things that they're going to miss is, well, everything. You know, I love my country. I always have done, despite what some individuals in that country have done."

Although much of the media attention on Harry and Meghan has focused on family tensions and recriminations over recent years, Owens suggested that the story may now shift to the royal's efforts to rebuild family harmony.

"I think time is a great healer. It creates space in a social media-saturated world, " he remarked. "People are always looking for the next thing to talk about and, arguably, that will be reconciliation between first of all father and son, and then potentially the two brothers."

Taken together, the developments around a question looms over Harry' s return to the UK. Can he rebuild point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.