Prince Harry’s July visit was overshadowed by his High Court loss in a privacy case brought against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Prince Harry and several other well-known figures claimed the newspaper group used unlawful methods for getting information for stories, allegations which were strenuously denied by Associated Newspapers.
The duke has complained of press intrusion into his relationship with Meghan and told the court in January: “They’ve made my wife’s life an absolute misery.”
Former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, Ailsa Anderson, said that no one had seen the Sussexes’ move coming.
“It’s an extraordinary surprise, it’s a bolt out of the blue really,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Anderson said the move also raises a number of questions, including about Prince Harry’s relationship with his brother, and the Sussexes’ security arrangements and relationship with the British press.
“It does beg the question, what will the rest of the Royal Family think of this?
“Of course, Harry and Prince William haven’t seen each other for four years, I think the last time was the late Queen’s funeral,” she added.
Prince Harry’s latest trip to the UK in July could also have helped him come to the decision, she said, in particular his visit to his late mother’s ancestral home in Northamptonshire.
“I wonder […] whether that made a shift in his views and he really wants to come back because he’s missed his life here for the last six years,” she said.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the government welcomed Prince Harry and Meghan moving back to the UK.
Asked whether she had been told in advance, Powell told BBC Breakfast she found out about it on social media and the news on Wednesday evening “like everybody else”.
Powell said she had not received any early indication from No 10 and did not know whether the prime minister had been informed in advance.
Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet being enrolled to start school in September is a “great endorsement” of the UK’s education system, she said – but acknowledged that it is unlikely that they will be enrolled at a local state school.
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