Prince Harry, Meghan Return to UK, Plan Cotswolds Move

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrived back in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, according to CBS News' partner network BBC News. The couple were understood to have flown privately from California with their two children, landing in Birmingham in the early afternoon.

A spokesperson for the couple told CBS News they could not "comment or guide on the family's private travel movements," citing privacy and security concerns.

The pair have no plans to resume royal duties and will remain non-working members of the royal family, a status they have held for six years. The BBC reported they are expected to live in the Cotswolds, an affluent region about a two-hour drive west of London.

Harry and Meghan announced in January 2020 that they were stepping back from their roles as senior, working royals to become financially independent. At the time, they said the move would let them raise their son "with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born" while giving the family space for "the next chapter," including a new charitable venture. The decision strained relations with other members of the royal family.

The couple's two children, Archie, born in 2019, and Lilibet, born in 2021, are due to start at a new school next week, the BBC said.

Harry lost a 2024 legal challenge over a government body's decision to downgrade his security detail during UK visits following his exit from royal duties. Asked last week about future security arrangements for the Sussexes, U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said it was a private matter, adding he and his family "wish them well in the moves that they are making."

Separately, on Friday, Harry and six other high-profile claimants were ordered to pay several million dollars to the publisher of the Daily Mail after a court found their claims against the paper "unreasonable to a high degree."