Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return to the UK kickstarted a series of controversies with the couple’s long-running rift with the British Royal Family at its center.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex landed at Birmingham Airport on August 26, 2026, with plans to stay in England long-term for the first time since their controversial exit in 2020.
Highlights
- King Charles III sent out a public letter last week, confirming Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s status as “private citizens” after their return to the UK.
- The Sussexes were “surprised” by the letter and, insiders say, took issue with several aspects of it.
- According to one source, the letter was originally Prince William's idea.
Squashing any hopes people may have had of the couple’s returning to Buckingham Palace, King Charles III wrote a guidance letter on Monday, September 7, 2026, clarifying that Harry and Meghan will remain “private citizens” with no royal titles.
After a statement from the Sussexes revealed that the letter caught them off-guard, insiders are now opening up about how Harry and Meghan really feel about the King’s stance.
Insiders reveal which aspects of King Charles’ letter have bothered Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
The letter, penned by Lord Chamberlain Richard Benyon on King Charles’ behalf to senior military and government officials and shared with the press, confirmed that Harry and Meghan will continue not to be working royals in accordance with the Sandringham Summit agreement of 2020.
“It follows that there is no change to the current status of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” the letter read. “Their styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance and are not used.”
“The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity. In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”
A spokesperson for the Sussexes told the British media the next day that Harry and Meghan “were a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance.”
Harry has particularly taken issue with being called “private citizens,” an insider told The Telegraph, and preferred the term “public figures” for himself and his wife.
They also expected an acknowledgment that, on a personal level, they remained members of the Royal Family, despite no longer using the titles or receiving public funding.
Another source close to the couple suggested that the letter was timed to come ahead of a Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) meeting to determine whether Harry and Meghan would receive taxpayer-funded security detail.
A royal expert cautioned Meghan Markle that she is “playing with fire” by openly disagreeing with the King’s declaration.
The Sussexes did not get a chance to review the letter before it was made public
The Palace reportedly gave Harry and Meghan a little more than an hour’s notice before the letter was made public, and even then, the couple technically did not know about it until it was too late.
According to The Telegraph, the letter was shared with the Sussexes’ office at 1:59 a.m. on September 7. Their staff responded to the Palace 20 minutes later, at 2:19 p.m., asking whether it had already been sent out to other parties.
They wanted time to alert Harry before it was made public, and were also keen to “clarify one or two points,” but could not reach the Duke before 3:09 p.m.
Unbeknownst to them, the letter had been shared with the media just three minutes earlier, at 3:06 p.m. The Sussexes’ staff were told of this at 3:11 p.m.
It has since been reported that Harry was busy in a meeting at Tower Bridge Studios, a London filming and podcast establishment, which kept him from learning about the letter sooner. It is not yet known where Meghan was.
The Telegraph said Buckingham Palace sources insisted there was “nothing controversial or new” in the letter and dismissed the notion that the Sussexes might have had any edit requests, as the statement only reiterated what was already agreed upon at the Sandringham Summit.
“It is merely making clear the continued position for the benefit of all parties,” one source said.
Former Conservative MP Louise Mensch tweeted about the situation, saying that Meghan Markle “had no right to be notified of it in advance,” and that she has made “another serious error” by expressing her “surprise” in reaction to the letter.
The letter was originally Prince William’s idea, an insider said
Although the statement reinstating Harry and Meghan’s status as non-working royals came from King Charles’ office, an insider claimed Prince William led the initiative.
“William had had enough of the confusion,” the source told Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice column. “Lord Lieutenancies were asking how Harry and Meghan should be treated. William’s answer was brutally simple: nothing has changed. They are out.”
The source added that the move has made Harry and Meghan question “whether this return can work.”
“Williams can close doors faster than they expected,” the source said. “William has won, for now. Harry and Meghan are back in Britain, but they’re not back in the Royal Family.”
Although not a closed door, one world leader has already distanced themselves publicly from Harry in favor of the Royal Family.
On September 9, Uganda withdrew from the 2027 Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event Harry founded in 2014 for military service members and veterans wounded in service.
“We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval,” said General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of the Ugandan president and head of the armed forces.
“I have factions in the Ministry of Defense that support that Harry-Meghan nonsense. I had to quash it straight away. I support the monarch. Period.”
"Who do they think they are?" The internet was furious over Harry and Meghan's reaction to the King's letter
