Prince Harry, Mr. Mom? Insiders Claim Meghan Will Still Make Montecito Her Home Base

After leaving the U.K. for California six years ago, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are moving back to England, though exactly where the family will live is still unknown. While the royal couple will no longer list Montecito as their primary residence, Meghan Markle will reportedly commute back and forth to keep her career going, leaving Prince Harry to take care of the children (surely with plenty of staff to back him up).

Both her As Ever lifestyle brand and the Sussex's Archewell Productions company are headquartered in California. Speaking to the Daily Mail, a friend of the family explained that, "Meghan will need to spend quite a bit of time in the US. She can't just dial in, she will need to be there." While she's working to bring home the bacon, Harry's job will be, as he said during a recent appearance on "Joe Marler Will See You Now," "Full-time dad."

All of this comes as rumors have spread that Markle isn't keen on the move, but is doing it to try and save the marriage, with another source telling the Daily Mail, "She is doing it because she believes she has to. She does not want to lose Harry, and she knows something has to change." But other sources told the paper that the move isn't a sign of trouble: "The marriage is not in bad shape, far from it, and this plan has been agreed by them both. They both feel it's the best thing for the children and they both want to do this."

While there have been rumors about why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving back to the U.K., including claims that Harry lied on his U.S. visa application, the truth appears to be far more heartwarming: they are doing it for their children. Just a year earlier, Harry told BBC News, "I can't see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point," after losing a court battle about security, but a family visit in July 2026 seems to have changed his mind. According to an insider for the BBC, seeing little Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet having fun with King Charles III and the family of Harry's mother, Princess Diana, was the deciding factor.

But family connections aren't the only reason. It's believed Harry wants his children to get a good English education, with a family friend telling the Daily Mail, "This is about Harry wanting what is best for them and he wants them to be raised British, in Britain, and go to a public school. That is what the move is about." Though Archie is roughly the same age Harry was when he went off to boarding school, the Duke of Sussex isn't ready to send his oldest off just yet, so the young prince will return home from school each evening. While the return to the U.K. suggests that some of the bad blood between Harry and his father may have settled down — perhaps to the chagrin of Harry's brother, William, Prince of Wales — it seems that he and the duchess will not be returning to their royal duties, which they stepped away from in 2020.