GOOD NEWS: Prince Harry happily returned to the UK with his son Archie after King Charles handed him back the crown: “The owner of Buckingham Palace is about to change…”

GOOD NEWS: Prince Harry happily returned to the UK with his son Archie after King Charles handed him back the crown: “The owner of Buckingham Palace is about to change…”

The owner of the Sun newspaper has offered a “full and unequivocal apology” to the Duke of Sussex, for “serious intrusion” into his private life, and agreed to pay him substantial damages.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex left the UK after stepping back from official royal duties in 2020.

The couple has since launched various commercial ventures, including a new lifestyle brand headed by Meghan Markle called American Riviera Orchard.

What was the NGN court case about?
The apology ended a long-running legal battle between Prince Harry and News Group Newspapers (NGN), which owns the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times and published the News of the World before its 2011 closure.

The prince had alleged journalists and private investigators working for NGN had used unlawful techniques to pry on his private life – and senior executives had covered this up.

In a statement read in court, NGN apologised for “serious intrusion” by the Sun between 1996 and 2011, and admitted “incidents of unlawful activity” by private investigators working for the newspaper.

It did not disclose the scale of the damages.

He and Prince Harry were the final two claimants after NGN previously settled more than 1,700 cases.

Lord Watson described the prince’s “bravery and astonishing courage” in pursuing the case.

NGN also apologised for serious intrusion into the private life of the Prince Harry’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Angry about media intrusion, they were frustrated that Buckingham Palace stopped them developing their “SussexRoyal” brand.

Harry remains a prince and is fifth in line to the throne.

Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,Harry and Meghan were married in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle
The couple kept their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, but are no longer addressed as his or her royal highness (HRH). Harry also gave up his military titles.

When Harry’s father Charles became King, the couple’s two children became Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex.

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Where do Harry and Meghan live?
Harry and Meghan moved to California in June 2020, saying they wanted space to raise Archie. Lilibet was born there in 2021.

In April 2024, documents filed to Companies House listed the US as the country where Harry is usually resident, instead of the UK.

The couple no longer has an official UK residence.

In early 2023, they were asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, a Grade-II listed property on the Windsor estate.

Image source,Carly b. talbot
Image caption,Frogmore Cottage had been a gift from the late Queen Elizabeth
The conservative US think tank The Heritage Foundation has repeatedly raised questions about Harry’s US immigration status because of his previous comments about taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

It wants the government to release his records, to show whether drug use was disclosed – as this can block US visa applications.

But in September 2024, US judge Carl Nichols ruled Prince Harry’s visa application should remain private.

At the time, some reports had suggested the prince wanted to return to the UK.

However, BBC News royal correspondent Sean Coughlan said sources had confirmed Prince Harry would continue to be based in the US, partly because of continuing concerns about his family’s security arrangements.

In December 2024, the prince said his life in the US was what his mother would have “wanted” for him.

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Do Harry and Meghan still come to the UK?
Although Prince Harry has returned to the UK several times during his various court cases against newspaper publishers, he was not in London for the announcement of the settlement with NGN.

He made a rare public appearance in the capital in September 2024 for the WellChild awards, celebrating the bravery of children and young people with serious illness or disability.

But before that, he had not been in the UK since attending a memorial service for his uncle Lord Robert Fellowes in Norfolk in August 2024.

The Prince of Wales was also there, although the brothers reportedly did not speak to each other.

In May 2024, Harry attended a service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, the sporting competition for injured servicemen and women which he helped found.

Video caption,The duke meets actor Damien Lewis and reads from the Bible at St Paul’s Cathedral
He did not see his father Charles or his brother William during the visit.

In February 2024, he flew back for a 45-minute meeting with Charles after Buckingham Palace announced that the King was being treated for cancer.

Harry attended the King’s coronation in May 2023 without Meghan.

The duke and duchess both came back to the UK for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022, and her funeral in September of that year.

How do Meghan and Harry earn their money?
As working royals, they received 95% of their annual income from Harry’s father, then Prince of Wales. The taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant made up the other 5%.

When they stepped down as senior royals, King Charles gave them “a substantial sum” to help establish their new life.

Harry and Meghan set up the Archewell charitable foundation, and entered into a number of commercial arrangements with private companies.

In February 2024 the couple launched their Sussex.com website, which said they were “shaping the future through business and philanthropy”.

American Riviera Orchard

In March 2024, Meghan launched what appeared to be a new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

Image source,American Riviera Orchard/Instagram
Image caption,A brief retro-style video shared to the brand’s Instagram account showed Meghan stirring a pot in a kitchen
Little is known about the new venture, but in April 2024, pictures of branded jam jars circulated on social media, suggesting it may sell food products.

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Television

The Sussexes’ media company, Archewell Productions, makes programmes for the Netflix streaming service under a deal thought to be worth millions of dollars.

In April 2024, Archewell said two new series were in production, one celebrating “the joys of cooking & gardening, entertaining, and friendship”, and another exploring the world of professional polo.

Polo was broadcast in December.

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The couple previously featured in the Harry and Meghan documentary series, where they talked about life in the Royal Family, and The Heart of Invictus series, which discussed the duke’s emotional “unravelling” after military service in Afghanistan.

Podcasts

Archewell also made podcasts for Spotify under a contract thought to be worth $25m (£19.7m).

This included a series called Archetypes, which featured the duchess in conversation with other well known women.

The arrangement ended in June 2023.

But in February 2024, Meghan announced a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media.

And in January 2025, an Instagram post from the company suggested it may release new episodes of Archetypes.

Books

Harry’s memoir, Spare, was published in January 2023.

It discussed his relationship with his brother and father, as well as his grief over the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

Meghan wrote a children’s book called The Bench in 2021.

Inheritance

William and Harry received the bulk of Princess Diana’s £13m fortune when she died in 1997.

In a 2021 interview, Harry told Oprah Winfrey this money funded his family’s move to the US.

He is also thought to have inherited millions from his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother.

It is not known whether Queen Elizabeth left him any money.

Acting

During her acting career, the Duchess of Sussex was reportedly paid $50,000 (£40,000) for each episode of the legal drama Suits.

She appeared in more than 100 episodes.

Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,Meghan Markle pictured with her Suits co-stars in 2012
Why did Harry take the government to court over his security?
After stepping back from official duties, the duke and duchess were no longer afforded the security arrangements provided for senior royals.

When Harry first left the UK, he said it would be too dangerous to bring his family back without adequate police protection, and took the government to court.

Home Office lawyers said the duke would still have publicly funded police security in the UK, under “bespoke arrangements”.

In late February 2024, the High Court ruled that this approach “was, and is, legally sound”.

In June, Harry’s legal team said he had been given permission to challenge the High Court decision in the Court of Appeal.

An earlier separate court ruling rejected the prince’s request to be allowed to pay privately for more substantial protection.

What is happening with Harry’s other court cases?
Harry settled a phone-hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers in February 2024.

His lawyer said the duke had been awarded “substantial” damages. He was also granted £140,600 in damages in another part of the case.

A separate court case over claims from the duke and others that the Daily Mail-publisher Associated Newspapers unlawfully obtained information about him continues.