Prince Harry and Meghan Markle want us to believe their sudden return to Britain is about family, schools, security, and even dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump.
Fine.
Maybe all of those things played a role.
Harry and Meghan are moving back to Britain with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet after six years in California. They'll establish a private home in the UK, keep their California and Portugal properties, and enroll the children in British schools.
PJ Media teammate Victoria Taft offered a wonderful piece of advice while touching on this topic yesterday:
Not that I wish King Charles harm, of course, but the discussion about his mysterious cancer diagnosis has been getting more fraught all the time. Harry and Meghan recently spent some time with the king in the UK where they presumably set the stage for the couple's long-wished-for "we want to be treated as royals, yet don't want to work" arrangement.
People reported, however, that Charles just found out a few days ago.
Sure.
People further reported that Charles was clear that there would be "no change to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s status as private individuals and non-working members of the royal family, in keeping with the wishes they expressed and the agreement reached when they stepped back from royal duties."
"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," which was roundly spiked by the royals.
Like most self-absorbed brats, they left behind a colossal mess when they left — and good riddance. We only wish they would have taken "queen" Camilla with them. Would have served them right.
The couple — or whoever is leaking this undoubtedly handsomely paid-for scoop for the couple — say they're looking forward to continuing to work on the charities you've never heard of, including, "including Scotty’s Little Soldiers and WellChild, as well as the Invictus community, while Meghan continues leading her lifestyle company, As Ever, and pursuing future projects."
Gag.
Further reading, if you have a barf bag close by: Get the Barf Bag Ready: Harry and Meghan Are Moving Back to U.K. — and Wait, Trump's to Blame?
But, there's always a big butt involved, usually mine: somebody looked at the tax calendar.
Here's the part getting far less attention. Britain's temporary non-residence tax rules can bring certain income and capital gains earned while someone is living abroad back into the British tax system if that person returns too soon.
The rules are designed to stop someone from leaving Britain, selling assets, or receiving certain income while living overseas, avoiding British tax, and then returning after a short absence. A person who was a British tax resident for at least four of the seven tax years before leaving can fall under those tax rules if the period of non-residence is too short.
For many people, escaping those temporary non-residence provisions requires getting beyond the five-year window. In practical tax planning, six full tax years of non-UK residence can become a very attractive number.
Harry left royal life in 2020.
It's now 2026.
Nimesh Shah noticed.
Shah isn't somebody with a calculator posting theories from his basement. He's CEO of Blick Rothenberg, a major British accounting and tax advisory firm. His professional background is personal tax, and he usually advises wealthy entrepreneurs on personal and corporate tax matters.
Good to see Harry and Meghan achieve 6 full tax years of non-UK residency to manage the “temporary non-resident” rules for capital gains tax 😬
— Nimesh Shah (@nimshah14) August 20, 2026
They have clearly had some good tax advice and the timing of their move back to the UK is immaculate 👌https://t.co/a8koinBHLK
Shah added that they clearly had received good tax advice and called the timing of their return "immaculate."
Immaculate is one word for it.
The British tax year runs from April 6 through April 5. Harry and Meghan stepped away from royal duties in 2020, and their official Windsor residence stopped being their official residence on March 31 of that year.
Now they're returning after the 2025-26 tax year has closed.
Nobody outside their financial circle knows their complete tax affairs, and individual tax residency depends on specific facts. Meghan's position could also differ from Harry's because the rules partly depend on previous British residency.
Harry's situation is the eye-opener.
Parliament describes temporary non-residence rules as anti-avoidance measures designed to prevent people from using a period abroad to escape British taxes on certain income. The government tightened portions of those rules again for 2026-27.
So forgive me if I don't immediately reach for a tissue over their sudden concern about Donald Trump.
The couple could've returned anytime between 2021 and 2025. Harry repeatedly said that security made bringing his family back difficult. Meghan described her British experience in terms so miserable that returning hardly sounded like a future goal.
Yet here they come.
Six tax years later.
Maybe King Charles' health matters, perhaps the children's schooling matters, and schmaybe Harry misses Britain.
And maybe somebody with an expensive calculator circulated April 6, 2026, a long time ago.
When political explanations and tax calendars collide this neatly, I'll follow the money first.
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