They may have lived in LA since March 2020, but if the spate of recent reports are correct then Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s future in the US might be uncertain. Sources close to the prince have suggested that four years after he and Meghan stepped down from their roles as senior royals and fled the UK, Harry is thinking about moving back.

Apparently, according to a report in The Times, the Duke of Sussex has been in talks with old friends and advisers about how to ‘rehabilitate’ his image in the UK. However, given that the couple didn’t exactly leave quietly, it’s likely that news of their potential return will be met with a mixed response.

When Harry and Meghan left the UK in 2020 because of their increasingly fraught relationship with ‘The Firm’ and their alleged mistreatment by the British press it caused a whirlwind of controversy. In March the following year the flames were fanned when they sat down with Oprah Winfrey to offer their side of the story and to detail their negative experiences of being part of the royal family. In December 2022, the couple then released a six-part Netflix series giving further insight into their grievances with the royals, and in January 2023 Prince Harry published his memoir, Spare, where he spoke about his difficult relationship with his brother, Prince William, as well as his father, King Charles III.

Unsurprisingly, news that he might now want to return to the UK and repair these relationships will come as a shock to many. One friend has allegedly suggested Harry could adopt a ‘zero fuss, zero publicity’ approach and stick to mundane events and ‘ribbon cutting’ in a bid to win the public over. However, his recent 7% popularity rating in a UK YouGov opinion poll suggests this would be difficult. And what of Meghan, whose mother Doria lives in California, where Meghan herself was raised, and where she has been planning to raise their children Archie and Lilibet? The report doesn’t elaborate on Meghan’s feelings on the matter, but given she has been vocal about her deep unhappiness in the UK, as a result of her experience within the Royal family, one has to wonder if it could ever be a realistic option for them both.

Even so, apparently Prince Harry is not short of friends who are presenting themselves to help him reestablish himself in the UK should he wish to, with the plan allegedly dubbed ‘Operation Bring Harry In From The Cold’.

But what’s so cold about California? As far as the British public are concerned, Harry and Meghan’s departure, known as Megxit at the time, was their ‘freedom flight’ to a better life. Unfortunately, things haven’t been straightforward for the couple in the States either.

For one, they have just lost their head of communications, Christine Weil Schirmer, who had been working with the couple since 2020. She is the couple’s tenth staff member to leave in three years. Not only that, but their chief of staff resigned just three months into his role, which suggests there are some fundamental issues within their operations.

Then there’s the fact that the couple’s lucrative Spotify deal, estimated to be worth $25m, was tanked after two years. Meghan’s podcast Archetypes ran for 12 episodes and was not renewed for a second series. According to the Wall Street Journal, the couple did not meet the company’s ‘productivity benchmarks’ and did not receive the full payout.

There’s also Meghan’s latest venture, a lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard, which is reportedly at risk of being abandoned after an unsuccessful trademark bid. Apparently, the products she wanted to trademark, including ‘cocktail napkins’, ‘pans’ and ‘cooking utensils’ were too broad and did not meet the rigorous trademarking requirements. A separate report claimed that the brand’s launch, which had been due to happen earlier this year, was down to a struggle to find a CEO.

In other words, Harry and Meghan have faced several obstacles since they moved to the US and their reputations with the American public are perhaps not as robust as they’d anticipated. And yet, they may not be throwing in the towel as easily as has been suggested, as a source close to the couple insisted on Monday that they have no desire to come back to England – even if their future in the US remains unstable.

‘Well-placed sources’ told The Telegraph that the Duke of Sussex has ‘no interest’ in returning to royal duties in the UK. Instead, they suggest that Prince Harry’s efforts to reach out to old friends in the UK and to repair his relationship with the King prompted speculation that he is keen to return, but there is no truth behind it.

Instead, the sources claim that Prince Harry is happy and settled in California, despite the knocks he and Meghan have faced, and that he has an ‘amazing’ new set of friends and plenty of projects on the horizon. Perhaps, then, his reaching out to old friends is because of his upcoming 40th birthday on 15 September. He might be taking stock of his relationships and simply want to reconnect with those he has lost contact with in recent years, which, of course, may include members of his family.

Last week, Prince Harry was in the UK to attend a service for the late Lord Robert Fellowes, the brother-in-law of Princess Diana, and reports stated that he and his brother Prince William did not speak during the service. Similarly, when Harry returned to visit his father King Charles after his cancer diagnosis in February, the visit reportedly only lasted 45 minutes.

It’s clear that while these relationships remain unstable, so too does his security status – another reason why a permanent return to the UK seems unlikely for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Given that they are no longer senior royals, they are not entitled to state-funded security and automatic police protection. Prince Harry has stated that he will not bring his wife or their two children, Arthur and Lilibet, back to the UK without it and his legal battle with the Home Office over this matter is still ongoing.

As such, rumours that Prince Harry and his family are thinking of returning to the UK remain unlikely, especially if Meghan is still content with their life in LA. It’s possible, however, that as the prince approaches his 40th birthday he is seriously considering how he can stay in the US and repair his relationships – and his reputation – back in the UK too. Even if it’s currently unclear as to whether that would work or what it would look like in practise.