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Meghan Markle reportedly has certain stipulations for a U.K. return. A royal author says the Duchess of Sussex will visit England only if two conditions are met. What they are, ahead, and why Prince Harry wants to spend more time across the pond. 

Harry and Meghan are looking for a second home

It’s house-hunting time for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. No, they’re not selling their Montecito, California, home. Harry and Meghan are looking to add to their real estate portfolio by getting a U.K. property. 

Tom Quinn, a royal author and commentator, told The Mirror that Harry “misses some aspects of his old life” in London, England. 

“Inevitably, the honeymoon period where everything in the States is new and exciting is coming to an end, and Harry is looking back at the past through rose-tinted spectacles,” he said.

Harry and Meghan, along with their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, have lived stateside since relocating in 2020 after leaving royal life. Meghan hasn’t been back to the U.K. since 2022, save for traveling to Heathrow Airport on her way to Nigeria with Harry in May 2024. 

Meanwhile, Harry has made numerous solo visits. Archie and Lili visited alongside their parents only once in June 2022. 

According to Quinn, it’s Harry who is leading the effort to find a U.K. residence. “Harry is determined to find his own permanent home in the U.K., which is partly why he’s continuing his legal action to get the British taxpayer to pay for his security,” he said. (The 39-year-old legal battle over security has been going on for years.)

Meghan’s conditions on going back to the U.K.: security and a ‘place of their own’

Meghan Markle, who reportedly has conditions for returning to the U.K., holds hands with Prince Harry in England
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Karwai Tang/WireImage

Now for Meghan’s conditions. “Meghan has said she’s only prepared to return to England if she and Harry have a place of their own and the security they both feel is essential,” Quinn said. 

Harry and Meghan had their own U.K. home, Frogmore Cottage, getting the last of their belongings out of the royal family-property for good in 2023.

“If the couple manage to find a permanent home and sort out the security issue, they will certainly want to bring their children to the U.K.,” the Gilded Youth author continued. 

However, even Quinn’s not entirely optimistic it will happen. “It’s going to take a lot of diplomacy” to reach a stage where Archie and Lili have a “genuine and warm relationship” with their cousins, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s kids: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6. 

Security is still a major issue for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they’re in the U.K.

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Since leaving royal life in 2020, security has become a major issue for Harry and Meghan. They’ve discussed it over the years—in an Oprah interview, Netflix docuseries, and Spare. Meanwhile, Harry’s lawsuit for personal protection is still playing out in U.K. courts. 

Most recently, the issue of security came up when Harry visited London, England, in May 2024 to mark 10 years of the Invictus Games. The Daily Mail reported at the time that Harry turned down his father King Charles III’s offer to stay at a royal residence, believed to be St. James’s Palace because it didn’t come with any taxpayer-funded security. 

Had he accepted the offer, Harry would’ve stayed in a “visible location with public entrance and exit points and no police protection,’” the outlet reported.  

“Instead, he chose to stay at a hotel—presumably with members of the public—because it means he ‘could come and go unseen,’” per The Telegraph.

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