Prince Harry and family arrive back in Britain: UK media
The couple, who quit Britain for California six years ago amid a royal feud, landed in a private jet at Birmingham Airport in central England, The Telegraph newspaper and other media said.
Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancée US actress Meghan Markle pose for a photograph in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace in west London on November 27, 2017, following the announcement of their engagement. (AFP)
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LONDON — Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and their two children landed Wednesday in Britain, UK media reported, after the shock news emerged last week they would be relocating from the United States.
The couple, who quit Britain for California six years ago amid a royal feud, landed in a private jet at Birmingham Airport in central England, The Telegraph newspaper and other media said.
Their spokesman declined to confirm the arrival, telling the BBC "this is not something we would comment on".
The Telegraph reported that the couple plan to stay for "an extended period", living in a home in the Cotswolds region, in central England, having enrolled their children at a school for the coming academic year.
With questions swirling around whether the stay is permanent, reports have noted the couple intend to keep their existing homes in California and Portugal.
Their two children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, have already been signed up to start at a private school in early September, according to UK media outlets.
The school is "in or close to" the Cotswolds, according to the Daily Mail.
Reconciliation?
A no-holds-barred interview with US talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey also deepened the rift.
The prince appeared to have mended relations with his cancer-battling father, King Charles III, during more recent UK visits, but Harry reportedly remains estranged from his brother, heir-to-the-throne Prince William and wife Catherine.
Harry and Meghan met the king in July, during a brief British visit -- the first time in four years the couple's children had met their grandfather.
But they did not meet William and Kate, and whether the feuding siblings will reconcile has been among the many questions thrown up by their return.
"Harry has made clear that he has a desire to reconcile," royal expert Ed Owens told AFP last week, after news of the Sussex's imminent relocation first surfaced.
"But it's in the interest of both King Charles and Prince William to reconcile with Harry."
Talk of possible reconciliation could be undercut by reports that William might remove their Sussex titles when he eventually becomes monarch.
Security?
Other questions remain unanswered, including whether they will receive publicly funded security.
Harry has said he did not feel safe bringing his family to Britain after losing a court battle over the provision of government-funded police protection while he lived overseas.
The couple will not be returning as working royals, prompting unease within the monarchy about what they will do after signing a string of commercial deals while in the United States with platforms like Netflix and Spotify, according to reports.
"The Palace will want to ensure that these do not overshadow the more typical work of the king and other members of the royal family," constitutional academic Craig Prescott, of Royal Holloway, University of London, told AFP.
Meanwhile Meghan in particular faces a tough challenge in re-assimilating to life in Britain, where she remains unpopular. Polling shows a majority of people hold unfavourable views of her and, to a lesser extent, Harry.
In bombshell interviews and tell-all documentaries, the American former actor has never hidden how difficult she found things following her 2018 fairytale wedding to Harry.
She told Winfrey that said she had contemplated suicide after joining the royal family.
She and Harry also insinuated that the monarchy was racist, claiming a family member raised a question about the skin colour of their son before he was born.