Let’s rewind to the early days of 2020, when Harry and Meghan made the bombshell announcement that they would be stepping down as senior members of the royal family. The news came on the heels of an ITV documentary about the duo in which the Duchess said she was “not really okay.” The couple officially relocated to Montecito, California that March. Three years later, Prince Harry’s memoir Spare all but finalized their royal exit.

“After Spare, [Harry and Meghan] realized, ‘Okay, we’re ready to move on. We want to focus on our future,’” a friend of the family later told Us Weekly. “‘We can have meaning and importance separate from the lives we had previously.’”

Though the Duke has made several attempts at reconciliation since then, tensions remain high between Harry, his older brother, Prince William, and their father, King Charles. Indeed, the latter’s former butler Grant Harrold admitted that it is unclear whether or not the monarch and his heir will ever be able to trust the Duke of Sussex again, especially after the aforementioned release of Spare.

Ahead, a full timeline of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from the British royal family and where things stand six years after their initial exit in 2020.

November 2019: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle go on a six week hiatus from royal duties.

Following the release of a new ITV documentary in which Markle admitted she was “not really okay,” the couple announced they would take a six-week break from royal duties, which included skipping the annual family Christmas at Sandringham and spending the holidays in Canada. At that point, Markle was roughly six months postpartum and under near constant scrutiny by the British tabloids.

January 8, 2020: The couple announce they are stepping down as senior royals.

In a bombshell announcement, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their hiatus permanent by stepping down as senior royals for good. The couple shared the news with the public via Instagram.

“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” they said in a statement. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. ”

January 13, 2020: Queen Elizabeth hosts the Sandringham Summit.

The Queen was joined by her son, then-Prince Charles, and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, for a 90-minute meeting to discuss the Sussexes departure. “Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family,” she wrote in rare statement following the meeting, which later became known as the Sandringham Summit.

“My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family,” she continued. “Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”

Following the meeting, the Queen announced that the couple would begin a “one-year probational period,” after which they would revisit the agreement.

March 2020: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle finish out their royal duties in the U.K.

With their permanent departure on the horizon, the couple made time for three final royal engagements: the Endeavor Fund Awards, the Mountbatten Festival of Music, and the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. They attended the latter event alongside Kate Middleton and Prince William, after which they posted a final goodbye to the public on Instagram.

“While you may not see us here, the work continues,” the caption read in part. “Thank you to this community—for the support, the inspiration and the shared commitment to the good in the world. We look forward to reconnecting with you soon. You’ve been great!”

March 2020: The family moves into Tyler Perry’s home in L.A.

After a short stint in Canada, Harry, Markle, and baby Archie officially relocated to California in part thanks to friend Tyler Perry, who loaned the family his house in Beverly Hills. “This is what Meghan and Harry have always wanted—to create their own life,” a royal insider told People at the time. “It’s got to feel like an immense relief to get out of the U.K. and go down their own path.”

February 19, 2021: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decline to return to the U.K. as working royals.

With their one-year probational period coming to a close and baby number two on the way, the couple announced they would not return to their former roles as senior members of the royal family. In response, Buckingham Palace released a short statement: “While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family,” it read.

March 2021: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tell all in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In their first interview since leaving the royal family, the Duke and Duchess held nothing back. During their conversation, the pair spoke about Meghan’s mental health struggles and accused the royals of racism, citing a particular instance where one member asked how “dark” Archie’s skin color might be.

“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” Buckingham Palace said in response to the interview. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.

It concluded, “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”

July 2020: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle move to Montecito.

The couple opted for a $14 million nine-bedroom mansion built in 2003 with coastal sea views. As for the neighborhood? “They were craving a smaller community and a slower pace—Montecito is very mellow, a charming little town and the Santa Barbara [area] offers an ideal lifestyle that they’re looking forward to,” a source close to the couple told People.

June 2022: The couple returns to the U.K. for the Queen’s Jubilee.

The Duke and Duchess reunited with the royal family in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which marked the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne on February 6, 1952. It was Markle’s first time back in the U.K. since March 2020.

September 10, 2022: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

The Duke and Duchess made an unexpected second visit to the U.K. later that year for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Attending alongside Prince William and Kate Middleton, the two couples put on a “show of unity” and even left in the same car despite the brothers’s ongoing royal rift.

December 8, 2022: The couple release a Netflix docuseries.

Following the success of their tell-all interview with Oprah, the Duke and Duchess revealed even more information about their experience with the royal family in a new docuseries titled Harry & Meghan. In episode two, Harry went so far as to blame Markle’s 2020 miscarriage on the British tabloid the Daily Mail.

“I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did,” he said. “I watched the whole thing. Now do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created caused by that? Of course, we don’t.”

He went on, “[But] bearing in mind the stress that caused the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was, I can say from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.”

January 2023: Prince Harry sits down for another interview.

Speaking with ITV News while promoting Spare, Prince Harry considered whether or not he would attend the coronation of his father, King Charles. “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then,” Harry said. “But, the door is always open. The ball is in their court. There’s a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they’re willing to sit down and talk about it.”

The next month, a source told People that Charles did, in fact, hope that his son would attend. “It is such a momentous occasion for Charles, and he would want his son to be at the coronation to witness it. He would like to have Harry back in the family,” the source said. “If they don’t sort it out, it will always be part of the King’s reign and how he has left his family disjointed. He has had a reputation as a distant parent, and it would be awful for him for that to continue.”

March 1, 2023: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are evicted from Frogmore Cottage.

Royal author Tom Quinn called the eviction a “slap in the face” and “the last straw.” Later, royal expert Omid Scobie wrote in his book Endgame that Princess Anne was the one who “persuaded” King Charles to pull the trigger and kick the couple out.

“Harry was absolutely furious and in tears about being evicted from Frogmore,” Quinn added. “He felt his father had no right to do it and that it was purely vindictive. Harry couldn’t see that choosing to stop being a working royal would inevitably mean being deprived of his royal residence. Harry took it as a cruel rejection.”

May 6, 2023: Prince Harry attends his father’s coronation without Meghan Markle.

The Duke’s visit was short and sweet. He returned home to California shortly after King Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned. “I am delighted that Prince Harry was there,” former royal press secretary Colleen Harris told People. “He would have personally regretted it if he wasn’t there to support his father. Speaking as a mother, [I believe] it was the right thing . . . and the King [was] delighted.”

September 2024: Prince Harry changes his official residence.

Prince Harry’s departure from the royal family in 2020 had a new note of finality at the end of September when the Duke of Sussex submitted paperwork pertaining to his travel company, Travalyst. The forms officially switched his formal residence from the U.K. to the U.S., seemingly putting an end to rumors that the Duke may have been eyeing a return to the U.K. Moreover, the forms dated the end of Prince Harry’s U.K. residency to June 29, 2023—which was, of course, the day of the couple’s eviction from Frogmore Cottage.

“As always with Harry a lot can be read into his actions. Being ousted from Frogmore Cottage wounded him deeply,” royal commentator Phil Dampier told the Mirror. “Charles and William knew it had to be done to emphasize Harry and Meghan were outside The Firm but he probably still thought he could keep a base here. Now he’s shown he accepts his life is in the U.S.”

September 2025: Prince Harry and King Charles have an “emotional” reunion.

Prince Harry saw his father for the first time in 19 months when the duo sat down for tea in September 2025. The reunion was reportedly “emotional,” according to a source who spoke to Us Weekly. The insider added that there were “lots of hugs and tears.”

“The meeting was sparked by a handwritten letter from Harry earlier this year to Charles expressing his desire to reconnect,” the source explained. “They were not sure it was going to happen until just in the last week…they really missed each other.”

Subsequent reports also revealed that Charles made it “absolutely clear” that his youngest son could not be a part-time royal. Harry, for his part, told reporters at a reception for the Invictus Games that his father was doing “great,” thus breaking his silence in the aftermath of their reunion.

January 2026: King Charles prepares for a trip to the U.S.

Following the announcement that King Charles would pay a visit to the U.S. in April 2026, royals fans immediately began speculating as to whether or not the monarch would spend time with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the couple’s two children. Royal biographer Robert Jobson said a reunion was unlikely, however.

“There will be no detour [from Washington, D.C. to Montecito],” he wrote for Hello!. Nor will Harry and family likely visit the King in D.C. for “a discreet meeting in Washington,” as “their presence would dominate headlines, eclipsing the state visit.”

“So, for that reason, it remains improbable,” Jobson concluded.