08/30/2026
Prince Harry and Meghan Markleâs Return to the U.K. Was Foreseen by This Royal, Who âPredicted All of Thisâ
Princess Anne is the longstanding hardest working royalâand also, maybe, a bit of a fortune teller.
According to royal biographer Katie Nicholl, the Princess Royal warned of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle âreinventing the wheelâ years before they moved back to the U.K. this week and âpredicted all of this.â In 2020âthe same year that Harry and Meghan stepped back as working royals and moved to the U.S.âAnne turned 70 years old that August. In an April interview with Vanity Fair ahead of that milestoneâjust three months after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their intention to step backâthe princess gave what Nicholl perceived to be âa word of warningâ to the couple.
âHarry has always had a very good relationship with his aunt Princess Anne,â Nicholl told Hello!. âThis relationship has certainly been tested, and when I sat down with her to interview her back in 2020, just after Megxit, she gave me a very sort of coded message, which was itâs all very well the new younger royals doing things differently, but they shouldnât try and reinvent the wheel.â
âI donât think this younger generation probably understands what I was doing in the past, and itâs often true, isnât it?â Anne said at the time. âYou donât necessarily look at the previous generation and say, âOh, you did that?â Or, âYou went there?ââ
She added, âNowadays, theyâre much more looking for, âOh, letâs do it a new way,â and Iâm already at the stage, âPlease do not reinvent that particular wheel. Weâve been there, done that. Some of these things donât work. You may need to go back to basics.ââ
Nicholl said she understood Anneâs words to be âa cautionary word to Meghan and Harry that yes, of course there needs to be changes, but, but not to do anything too drastically.â
âI think she will be one who has sort of sat back, predicted all of this, not been surprised that theyâre coming back somewhat with their tails between their legs because things havenât worked in America,â Nicholl added.
Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito, California in 2020 and lived there until this past week, when they relocated back to the United Kingdom after six years away. Their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, are due to start school in the U.K. next week. A source speaking to The Telegraph said that there were âa number of factorsâ that drew them back, with an insider noting, âThe timing is good and works for them right now.â
Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty Magazine, told The Guardian that he thinks it will âtake a long time to establish a reasonable degree of trustâ with the royal family.
âIt was six years plus in the fracturing,â he said. âItâs not going to be a case of six weeks and everything is forgiven and forgotten. Itâs going to be a lengthy process.â