Sussexes' UK return a 'great' relief, says Duke as Invictus Games focus and security decision loom

The Duke of Sussex has said it feels "great" to be back in Britain after six years of family life in California, speaking to Canadian broadcaster CTV while completing a charity skydive near Toronto. The 41-year-old royal, who relocated to the US with his wife and children in 2020, said the move had allowed him to concentrate on preparations for the Invictus Games in Birmingham next July.

"It's been great. It's been great to be back on British soil," Harry told the Canadian network, adding that his children "are happy in school" and that being in the UK gives him "a chance to be able to really focus on the Invictus Games in Birmingham in July next year." The remarks are among the first in which the Duke has publicly framed the Sussexes' move back to Britain primarily as a commitment to his charitable work rather than to a return to royal life.

The family left the UK in early 2020, when Prince Harry and Meghan stepped back as senior working royals and began a new life in the US. Their departure, widely reported at the time as a decisive break with the monarchy's working arrangements, was followed by a period in which the couple built a life in California and raised their children largely away from public attention. The BBC understands the family are now based at a private property outside London, in the Cotswolds area, having returned to live in Britain full-time last month.

The relocation has already required practical adjustments. Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, were moved to a different school only days after starting at a new establishment, following concerns raised by the Sussexes' private security team about the distance involved and heavy traffic on the route. The episode illustrates one of the central difficulties of the family's new arrangement: ordinary domestic decisions, such as choosing a school, now intersect with a level of protection and scrutiny that is far from ordinary.

While Meghan has largely stayed out of the public eye since the move, making few public appearances, Harry has carried out several engagements connected to the Invictus Games. Last week he visited a school in Birmingham to launch an education programme inspired by the games, taking part in a pickleball session with pupils and joining a science lesson on prosthetic design. The visit underlined the Duke's stated intention to use his time in Britain to build on the charity he founded for wounded service personnel, injured veterans and their families.

The Birmingham games themselves are due to take place from 10 to 17 July next year, with around 550 wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans from 25 nations expected to compete in 12 adaptive sports. For Harry, who served in Afghanistan with the Household Cavalry Regiment and has described his military experience as formative, the event is both a personal and a professional focus. Insiders close to the Duke's charitable work suggest his decision to base himself in Britain is designed to put him within travelling distance of the organising committee, a practical consideration that has shaped the family's choice of location.

The CTV interview came after Harry completed a skydive in Canada to honour a promise made to a 102-year-old Second World War veteran and to raise awareness of the military charities the Duke supports. The appearance is characteristic of a pattern in which the Sussexes' UK presence is dominated by charitable and quasi-official engagements rather than appearances at state events or royal ceremonies.

Asked directly what had prompted the family's decision to return to the UK, Harry said there were "lots of reasons" but declined to elaborate. Royal correspondents have pointed to a combination of factors, among them the practicalities of the children's schooling, the location of the Invictus Games, and a gradual easing of the couple's involvement in American life. The Duke's refusal to specify is consistent with his long-held preference for keeping his family's movements separate from public explanation.

The return has not been without friction within the wider royal family. The couple were reportedly surprised by a letter authorised by the King, which restated that they are private citizens and issued guidance to senior government and military figures on how they should be treated. The intervention, reported as a formal correction of the couple's status, is said to have landed badly, and relations between Harry and King Charles have been strained since the Sussexes stepped down as senior working royals and moved to the US.

The most significant open question concerns security. The Sussexes are awaiting a decision on whether they will receive taxpayer-funded protection in the UK. The committee which oversees royal and VIP security, Ravec, is set to reconsider the level of police protection the family receives now that they are full-time residents rather than visitors. The distinction matters: protection provided to visiting members of the royal family is a matter of established convention, whereas sustained protection for a private household raises questions about cost and entitlement that officials are unlikely to treat as automatic.

Analysts caution that the Ravec review could cut either way. A family living full-time in the country, in a property outside London and with children attending school, presents a different security picture from a visiting royal, but a decision to decline public funding would be equally significant, particularly given the scale of resources deployed while the family were in the US. Whatever the outcome, the review is likely to set a precedent for how other high-profile figures who have renounced official duties are treated.

For now, the Duke's message is one of gratitude rather than positioning. By choosing to speak to a Canadian network about a skydive, and to name the Invictus Games as the anchor of his time in Britain, Harry has placed the charity at the centre of the family's UK chapter. Whether that settles the question of the family's long-term future is likely to depend on decisions taken elsewhere — by the committee on security, and by a relationship with the King that shows little sign of having been repaired by the return itself.