Call it a reverse Megxit – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are heading back to the U.K. six years after dramatically moving to America.
The announcement comes about a month after the couple and their two children, seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet, made a trip to Harry’s homeland for the first time in four years for a visit with King Charles and Queen Camilla and a much-maligned excursion to Princess Diana’s grave.
The family is reportedly set to live in a private residence outside London and the kids are already enrolled in local schools. It is believed they will be holding onto their Montecito, California, mansion for now. Who will be footing the bill for their security, which has been a massive point of contention for the Sussexes since decamping to the U.S., remains unclear, as does what exactly compelled the move.
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Maureen Callahan, host of MK Media’s The Nerve, to discuss the shocking relocation and what is really behind it.
The Shock Relocation
Megyn said the news is perhaps one of the only stories that all Americans can agree on. “Today, we have two important self-deportations that can unite all of America. This is the first thing we have been able to agree upon in over a decade. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are leaving. Praise Jesus,” she quipped.
The People magazine “exclusive” report on the news, which Megyn and Callahan both believe the Sussexes had a hand in, claimed the couple is “relocating… to the the U.K. for an extended period beginning this month” but will “maintain their home in Montecito… and their vacation property in Portugal while establishing a private, non-royal home base in Britain.”
Callahan said The Daily Mail’s reporting is that King Charles was “blindsided” by the relocation news and it was not discussed during last month’s visit. That is in line with the People report that the monarch “was made aware of the couple’s plans on Sunday, August 16.”
There is obviously the known rift in the Royal Family that only widened in recent years as a result of the couple’s explosive sit-down with Oprah Winfrey in which they accused unnamed royals of being racist, their Netflix docuseries in which they labeled the British public racists, and Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare in which he aired his family’s dirty laundry.
And then there is the inconvenient truth that the Sussexes are personas non grata in the U.K. A July YouGov survey of Britons found Harry’s favorability at 30 percent and Markle’s at a mere 22 percent. For comparison, Prince William and Princess Catherine are at 76 and 74 percent respectively.
Couple all of that with the fact that, just last year, Harry told the BBC that he couldn’t “see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point” and one is left to wonder what is really motivating this move.
What’s Behind the Move
Remarkably, People claimed that one impetus behind the pair’s decision to uproot their “idyllic” California life is “their disillusionment with the current White House.” Megyn, for one, wasn’t buying it.
“This is the most cynical B.S. I’ve ever read in my life,” she said. “They don’t give a shit about who’s in the White House. If she were getting her reservations when she wanted them, she’d be staying.”
One possibility Callahan actually believes is plausible is that the couple is having cashflow issues. “I find this timing… incredibly convenient. They have no money. All of the Hollywood people have backed away slowly and have vanished – your Oprahs, your Tyler Perrys, your Kris Jenners, Ted Sarandos… They’re done here,” she posited.
Callahan noted that some reports are suggesting Markle has only committed to a six-month trial run across the pond, which is playing into larger speculation about the state of the couple’s relationship.
“Could there be a deeper play at work here… because we also know this marriage seems to be in trouble. They professionally separated their brands about a year ago and announced they were doing so. Here in the United States, Harry and Meghan have been making appearances… separate from each other for months now. We had reporting over at The Nerve – [Lady Colin Campbell] came on with her explosive report, multiply sourced, that Harry’s in love with another woman and that other woman is in love with him.”
Regardless, Callahan is skeptical that the former Suits star will know what to do with herself for even six months because “we know she can’t live without a camera or a spotlight.”
To that point, Megyn believes that need for attention is playing into the decision. “There are many speculations out there about why they are going, but I’ll tell you why: Because they can’t stand not being adored and famous and welcomed everywhere and getting the… attention they want,” she theorized.
“[We all know their] ‘we love privacy’… is a lie, and they think that they will have an elevated status over the U.K.,” Megyn continued. “They are going back to a place where they can feel special, and they can get reservations at any restaurant, and the tabloid attention will pick back up because it’s withered down to an arid dryness now, and they can’t stand it. She can’t stand it, but he can’t stand it either. He’s just as petty and small as she is.”
Royally Petty
Speaking of pettiness, the People article touted how “those close to the Sussexes believe they have successfully executed the ‘half in, half out’ model Harry and Meghan proposed to the royal family in 2019.” Callahan said that is a slap in the face to the late Queen Elizabeth.
“[That] is such an F-you to the late Queen, who… at the Sandringham Summit [in 2020]… said there is no half-in, half-out. In her infinite wisdom, she said… you’re either all in and you serve the British public and you represent this country, or you are out. Go make your money. We wish you well. You cannot represent the royals,” Callahan recalled. “And now they’re saying that not only are they doing that, they’ve successfully done it.”
She expects to see more trips like the “pity party” the pair embarked on in Australia earlier this year. “I think the danger here is very real because I think that Harry is going to continue to make his appearances – and he is a prince of the blood – and those will be considered royal appearances whether they’re endorsed by the palace or not. And Meghan will continue her travels as an ambassadress of who knows what, and she’ll consider those royal appearances,” Callahan predicted.
“Now, this is, I think, also the deviousness of these two. I think they are looking to get back in with King Charles, and they are going to attempt to checkmate William,” she continued. “Because once Charles begins to soften – ‘Operation Thaw’ is what is called in Charles’s realm – how is William going to look to the British public if he maintains his stance [on] his brother, who has been nothing but a traitor to him, his wife, his children, and the crown? Will William somehow be depicted as the bad guy here?”
Gone for Good?
The story – and the rumors – will only continue to grow once the Sussexes are back in England. “Is there a potential separation in the mix? Are we actually finally rid of them over here in America,” Megyn asked.
At least in the short term, however, one thing is certain. “Go become somebody else’s problem,” Megyn concluded. “We have enough weirdos, narcissistic, self-obsessed Americans already. The country is full. It is saturated… We are sick of you!”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Callahan by tuning in to episode 1,383 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.