Meghan Markle has one “major condition” for her husband Prince Harry if she’s to ever swap her California life and return to the UK, a royal expert has claimed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex got married in 2018 and resided in England until 2020, before making the difficult decision to step back from life as working royals and move from their Windsor home, to Montecito California in order to raise their young son Prince Archie. 

Since moving across the pond, the couple have welcomed another child, daughter Princess Lilibet, – and have rarely returned to the United Kingdom save for on a handful of occasions. Meghan in particular, was last seen at the late Queen’s funeral in 2022, meanwhile Prince Harry’s last key UK engagement came in May, when he celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games in London. 

And now it has been claimed that Meghan is only prepared to come back to the UK if she and Harry have a place of their own to stay, and if they have the appropriate security to ensure the safety of their young family.

Royal author and expert Tom Quinn has spoken to The Mirror: “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. Meghan will never return to the UK and stay with her husband’s relatives.”

Meghan Markle has one ‘major condition for Prince Harry’ if she’s to return to the UK (Image: Getty)

Security concerns are one of the key issues troubling the couple (Image: Getty)

He then continued: “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 UK.

“But it’s going to take a lot of diplomacy to get to the point where Archie and Lili are able to develop a genuine and warm relationship with their cousins George, Charlotte and Louis.”

This comes after Harry won the right to take his case to the Appeal Court against the High Court’s decision that the level of protection he and his family receive in Britain is reasonable.

The Sussexes lost full taxpayer-funded police protection when they stepped down as senior working royals back in 2020 – a decision the Prince didn’t agree with, prompting him to take the matter to court.

The Duke of Sussex first took legal action in February 2020 when the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) decided he should receive a different degree of protection to other members of the Royal Family.

Just a few weeks earlier Harry and Meghan Markle announced their decision to step down as working members of the Firm, leading to his security being reviewed.

In a judgement from February this year High Court judge Peter Lane rejected the Duke’s claims that the decision was unfair and ruled that the Home Office and Ravec’s decision would stand.

But now Harry has been told he can appeal the verdict at the Court of Appeal, according to an order from Lord Justice Bean dated May 23 2024.