Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been living in the United States since 2020, and the two have made very few returns to the United Kingdom as a couple (mostly for security reasons). Prior to leaving the royal family, Harry reportedly wanted to split his time between royal and non-royal life, but the late Queen Elizabeth II wouldn’t allow it.

When King Charles revealed his cancer diagnosis in 2024, Harry reportedly made an offer that the king rejected, knowing Meghan Markle wouldn’t like it. But Harry had a subtle trick up his sleeve and knew Meghan wouldn’t actually have to worry about the prince making a royal return.

Prince Harry reportedly made King Charles an offer that Meghan Markle hated

Harry and Meghan needed a way out of the royal family, and they chose to leave everything behind and start a new life in California back in 2020. But the royals were still Harry’s family, and when he learned of his father’s cancer battle, he reportedly offered to take on a temporary royal role so Charles could focus on his health. Meghan supposedly was “against” the idea, but Harry knew that his father would never agree to it — and that’s why he offered.

“I’m told that he immediately wanted to do something practical to help, but he will have known that his offer to help could be made safe in the knowledge that it would be rejected,” royal author Tom Quinn told Mirror.

Quinn continued, “Harry will not move back to the UK without Meghan — not even for a few months. But he had to make the offer because anything else would have looked callous and uncaring.” Quinn said that, in addition to Harry and Meghan not wanting to rejoin the royal family, no one on the royal side “wants to go back to the terrible days when Meghan and Harry and William and Kate tried to get along and failed.”

Prince Harry still doesn’t see much of his family

2024 seemed like an optimistic year for Harry and the royals, at least from the public’s point of view. He visited his father in February and later said in an interview that he loved his family. The royals wished Harry a happy birthday on social media for the first time in three years, and Prince William even mentioned his brother in a documentary — all of which were situations that many thought could open the door for a reconciliation.

Ultimately, though, little has changed since Harry and Meghan left. They still don’t have any public relationship with the royals, and if all that the family went through last year wasn’t enough to reconnect them, then it seems like nothing ever will be.