Harry and Meghan’s unexpected move to base themselves once again in Britain has prompted fresh speculation in America, with some wondering whether the King’s health is more serious than has been publicly acknowledged.
Those familiar with the situation insist that is not the case. King Charles was diagnosed with cancer, remains under treatment and continues to carry out his duties. It is also true, however, that there has been no official talk of remission.
He is unwell, certainly. But he is also showing resolve. And few would struggle to understand why a son might want to be nearer to his father at such a moment.
The timing is intriguing for another reason. Sir Clive Alderton, the King’s principal private secretary and most powerful courtier, has stepped down and is due to leave in May. Harry was no admirer of him; in Spare, he was widely understood to be the figure nicknamed “the Wasp.” Could his departure help remove one of the barriers to the Duke’s return to the royal fold?
Increasingly, it appears that may be exactly what is happening.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to leave California before the month is out and settle into a private property outside London, possibly in the Cotswolds, where they stayed during their recent trip. Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are due to begin at a British school in September. Their Montecito home and their villa in Portugal are, however, being kept.
Enrolling two children in schools in Britain is not something any family manages in a matter of days. It requires planning, conversations with registrars and headteachers, and discreet preparation over time. The King, I understand, was informed on Sunday — by which point the arrangements were already largely in motion.
Buckingham Palace, meanwhile, is handling the matter with care and doing so quietly, without any formal statement — leaving room to retreat if necessary.
Harry and Meghan’s sudden decision to resettle in Britain has led many in the US to believe the King is sicker than anyone has admitted, though that is not the case
The King was told on Sunday. By then there was nothing left for him to decide
The King welcomes seeing more of his grandchildren.
For the Sussexes, nothing changes in the arrangement. Private individuals, non-working royals, no duties resumed.
They were at Highgrove in July. Charles met up with Archie and Lilibet for the first time since 2022. The Palace called it a private family occasion. Reports say the move was not discussed. Really? Hard to believe.
On May 2 last year, Harry told the BBC he could not see a world in which he would bring his wife and children back to Britain. He had just lost his appeal over police protection, after suing his father’s government. Now we are fifteen months on.
Better to have him inside than outside. Inside there is some control.
The alternative is two courts in one country. One serving, one selling. That is a constitutional problem, not a family one.
Archie is sixth in line to the throne. Lilibet is seventh. Their father is fifth. Children that close to the crown cannot live here unguarded. A narrow, defined working role is the one route by which the security question answers itself.
Until September, Archie is an all-American boy with a British title, thousands of miles from an institution he could theoretically be asked to serve. From September, he is a child in a British classroom, with British friends, his Californian twang disappearing with every term. Monarchy runs on familiarity.
William and Catherine will go on carrying out engagements on behalf of this country. On some of those days, his brother will be working, too, on his own account. What Harry does is worth more because of who his brother is. No arrangement fixes that.
William faces the biggest decision of his life and he does not yet have the job. Whatever is settled now, he reigns inside it.
Christmas is a public test.
In the season of goodwill. The walk to St Mary Magdalene. Cameras on the path. If Harry is living in England with two children in British schools, the invitation stops being a courtesy and becomes a decision. Leave him off the path and the family looks unforgiving. Put him on it and the photograph says the last six years never happened.
Can William walk beside him?
On September 10, 2022, they walked together outside Windsor Castle, the four of them, four days after the Queen died. Crowds. Flowers. Cameras. Afterwards Catherine told a close source of mine it was ‘the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.’
William and Catherine will go on carrying out engagements on behalf of this country. On some of those days, his brother will be working, too
On September 10, 2022, they walked together outside Windsor Castle, the four of them, four days after the Queen died
If that was what it cost her then, with the country watching, nothing about December is easy. Rebuilding takes two people who want it rebuilt. I see one.
There is a debt outstanding first. In Spare, Harry slammed Queen Camilla. He wrote that she had ‘sacrificed’ him ‘on her personal PR altar.’ Camilla kept quiet. The debt to his brother has not been paid either.
The Palace should say so on the record, not in whispered advice. The terms of 2020 stand.
Before the school gates.
Before the walk to church. Harry stands up and says sorry, to his father, brother and British people.
Chances of that, given his record for contrition, are slim. But if the monarchy is going to unite it is essential.
Robert Jobson is the author of The Windsor Legacy.
