Prince Harry and Meghan plan to relocate from the US to a private, non-royal residence outside London, with their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, enrolled to start at school in September.
The decision follows a visit in July by Prince Harry, Meghan and their children to see King Charles III at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire.
It was the first time the King had seen his grandchildren in person in more than four years, and the couple’s first visit to the UK together since 2022.
The BBC understands the King was unaware of the move before last weekend, but he welcomes the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity.
There are no current plans for either Prince Harry or Meghan to resume their roles as working royals.
Questions have also been raised over whether the Sussexes will receive publicly funded security in Britain. Their UK protection was downgraded after they stopped being working royals in 2020 and moved to the US, where they have paid for their own protection.
Ailsa Anderson, the late Queen’s press secretary, said she does not think there will be any plans to give the Duke and Duchess of Sussex official security, adding: “It’s a very costly business and they are not working members of the Royal Family.”
She told BBC Breakfast that Prince Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK was “totally unexpected and fairly astonishing”.
But Dai Davies, a former head of royal protection and divisional commander in the Metropolitan Police, said the system for deciding whether someone should receive such protection is “carefully measured”.
Davies told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he suspects a review into the Sussexes’ security may take place if Prince Harry is to bring his family to the UK and “plans to remain here”.
He said that official security is “enormously expensive, especially if you’re moving into a premises which is not security prepared”.
On Friday, the duke is expected to find out more about how much he, and other high-profile complainants, will have to pay the Daily Mail publisher in costs over a failed legal battle.
The group – which includes Sir Elton John, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Elizabeth Hurley – sued Associated Newspapers Limited over claims of unlawful information gathering, but last month all their claims were dismissed.
