Buckingham Palace says Prince Harry and Meghan cannot return as working royals

Buckingham Palace said in a letter sent Monday that Prince Harry and Meghan cannot return as working members of the royal family. The couple will not be able to use their His and Her Royal Highness titles and will retain their status as private citizens.

Scraper SystemSeptember 08, 2026, 01:05 PM

Buckingham Palace says Prince Harry and Meghan cannot return as working royals

Buckingham Palace said in a letter that Prince Harry and Meghan cannot serve as working members of the British royal family. The couple will not be able to use their His and Her Royal Highness titles and will remain private citizens.

The letter was sent to Harry’s team, government departments, military officials, staff involved in government visits and official events, and lord lieutenants, who are the monarch’s local representatives.

The Sandringham Agreement remains in force

The message stressed that the Sandringham Agreement, reached when the couple stepped down from their royal duties in 2020, remains in force. The agreement rules out a status that is “partly in and partly out,” in which royal duties and commercial activities are carried out simultaneously.

Harry and Meghan stopped being working members of the royal family in 2020 after ending their representative duties on behalf of the monarch. The letter said the couple’s charitable work was a personal matter carried out in their private capacity.

The couple returned to the UK on August 26

The decision came after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to the UK with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, on August 26. The couple had begun living in California after stepping down as senior working members of the royal family.

Prince Archie was said to be 7 years old, while Princess Lilibet was 5.