Why did Harry and Meghan leave the Royal family?
- Published
The Duke of Sussex is expected to attend the WellChild Awards in London on Monday, in one of his first visits to the UK since losing a legal battle over the level of security provided to his family.
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, left the UK after stepping back from official royal duties in 2020.
The couple have since launched commercial ventures, including several Netflix series and a new lifestyle brand headed by the duchess.
Why did Harry and Meghan leave the Royal Family?
Harry and Meghan met in 2016 and married in 2018. They stepped down as senior royals in January 2020.
Angry about media intrusion, they were frustrated that Buckingham Palace prevented them developing their "SussexRoyal" brand.
Harry remains a prince and is fifth in line to the throne.
The couple kept their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, but are no longer addressed as His or Her Royal Highness (HRH). Harry also gave up his military titles.
When Harry's father became King, the couple's two children became Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex.
In May 2025, Harry told the BBC that he "would love a reconciliation" with his father and the rest of the Royal Family, but that the dispute over his security had "always been the sticking point".
Where do Harry and Meghan live?
Harry and Meghan moved to California in June 2020, saying they wanted space to raise Archie. Lilibet was born there in 2021.
The couple no longer have an official UK residence, after being asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, a Grade-II listed property on the Windsor estate.
Frogmore Cottage had been a gift to Harry and Meghan from the late queen
Prince Harry's US immigration status has consistently been challenged by conservative US think tank The Heritage Foundation, because of his previous comments about taking drugs including cocaine and marijuana.
Disclosing drug use can mean visa applications are rejected, although officials have discretion about final decisions.
In September 2024, a US judge ruled documents relating to Harry's visa application should remain private. However, after the Heritage Foundation challenged that decision a heavily redacted version was published.
How often do Harry and Meghan come to the UK?
Prince Harry has returned to the UK several times for court cases relating to his security arrangements and action against newspaper publishers.
He has also attended previous WellChild award ceremonies, which are for children with serious illness or disability.
In August 2024, he attended a memorial service for his uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes. The Prince of Wales was also there, although the brothers reportedly did not speak to each other.
In May 2024, he took part in a service for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for injured servicemen and women which he helped found.
The duke meets actor Damien Lewis and reads from the Bible at St Paul's Cathedral
In February 2024, he flew back for a 45-minute meeting with King Charles III after Buckingham Palace announced that the King had cancer.
Harry attended his father's coronation in May 2023 without Meghan.
The duke and duchess had both returned to the UK for the late queen's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022, and her funeral in September of that year.
How do Meghan and Harry earn their money?
As working royals, they received 95% of their annual income from Harry's father, then Prince of Wales. The taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant made up the other 5%.
When they stepped down as senior royals, King Charles gave them "a substantial sum" to help establish their new life.
Harry and Meghan set up the Archewell charitable foundation, external, and established commercial arrangements with private companies. In February 2024 the couple launched their Sussex.com website, external.
Rebranding the new brand
In March 2024, Meghan launched a new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, named after a term used to describe the Santa Barbara area where she and her family live.
Pictures of branded jam jars then circulated on social media, suggesting it might sell food products.
In February 2025, the Duchess announced the brand had been renamed "As Ever", with jam, tea, "cookie mixes", and flower sprinkles listed for sale.
Television
The Sussexes' media company, Archewell Productions, makes programmes for Netflix under a deal thought to be worth millions of dollars.
Their original arrangement was extended in August 2025 to give the streaming service a first option to secure future content.
The couple first featured in the Harry and Meghan documentary series, where they talked about life in the Royal Family.
The Heart of Invictus series followed and discussed the duke's emotional "unravelling" after military service in Afghanistan.
Polo was broadcast in December 2024.
The second series of With Love, Meghan was broadcast in late August
With Love, Meghan - a lifestyle show, blending "practical how-tos and candid conversation" - began on 4 March 2025, with the second series following in August.
Podcasts
Archewell also made podcasts for Spotify under a contract thought to be worth $25m (£19.7m).
This included a series called Archetypes, which featured the duchess in conversation with other well-known women.
A new series with Lemonada Media, Confessions of a Female Founder, began in April 2025.
Books
Harry's memoir, Spare, was published in January 2023.
It discussed his relationship with his brother and father, as well as his grief over the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
The book's publishers promised $1.5m (£1.18m) and £300,000 respectively would be given to the Sentebale and WellChild charities.
Meghan wrote a children's book, called The Bench, in 2021.
Inheritance
William and Harry received the bulk of Princess Diana's £13m fortune when she died in 1997.
In a 2021 interview, Harry told Oprah Winfrey his share of the money funded his family's move to the US.
He is also thought to have inherited millions from his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother.
It is not known whether Queen Elizabeth left him any money.
Acting
During her acting career, Meghan was reportedly paid $50,000 (£40,000) for each episode of the legal drama Suits.
She appeared in more than 100 episodes.
The Duchess of Sussex - pictured with her co-stars in 2012 - played Rachel Zane in Suits from 2011 to 2018
Why did Harry go to court over his security arrangements?
In May, Harry lost his legal challenge over the levels of security he and his family are entitled to while in the UK.
After stepping back from official duties, the duke and duchess were no longer covered by the standard security arrangements provided for senior royals.
The Home Office said the duke would instead be offered "bespoke" police security, decided on a case-by-case basis.
Harry said it was too dangerous to bring his family back to the UK without adequate protection, and took the government to court.
"The UK is my home," he told the High Court in December 2023. "The UK is central to the heritage of my children. That cannot happen if it's not possible to keep them safe."
In February 2024, the High Court ruled the Home Office's approach to his security was "legally sound", a decision which was later upheld by the Court of Appeal.
A separate court ruling had previously rejected the prince's request to be allowed to pay privately for more substantial protection.
After the final ruling, Harry said he "can't see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point".
What happened with Harry's court cases against various newspapers?
In January 2025, Prince Harry settled a case with News Group Newspapers (NGN), after it offered a "full and unequivocal apology" for "serious intrusion" into his private life between 1996 and 2011, and "incidents of unlawful activity" by private investigators.
It agreed to pay him an undisclosed amount of damages.
NGN, which owns the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times and published the News of the World before its 2011 closure, also apologised for serious intrusion into the private life of Prince Harry's late mother, Princess Diana.
Harry also settled a phone-hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers in February 2024.
His lawyer said the duke had been awarded "substantial" damages. He was also granted £140,600 in damages in another part of the case.
A separate court case over claims from the duke and others that the Daily Mail's publisher, Associated Newspapers, unlawfully obtained information about them continues.