Prince Harry and Meghan arrive back in U.K., BBC News reports

London — Prince Harry and Meghan arrived back in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, CBS News’ partner network BBC News reported. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were understood to have flown privately with their two children from California and landed in Birmingham in the early afternoon.

A spokesperson for the couple told CBS News they could not “comment or guide on the family’s private travel movements,” given privacy and security concerns. 

The news broke last week that Harry and Meghan would be returning to Britain after six years in California.

The pair have no plans to resume royal duties. They will continue as non-working members of the royal family, as they have been for six years, and the BBC said they were expected to live in the affluent Cotswolds region, about a 2-hour drive west of London. 

The couple said in January 2020 that they were stepping away from their roles as senior, working members of the royal family to become financially independent.

“This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity,” they said in a statement at the time.

The pair’s decision to step away from the royal family and move to California fueled considerable tension with other members of the family.

Harry and Meghan have two children, Archie, born in 2019, and Lilibet, born in 2021. They are due to start at a new school next week, according to the BBC. 

The Duke of Sussex lost a 2024 legal challenge against a government body’s decision to downgrade his security detail on visits back to the U.K., following the announcement that he was stepping away from royal duties.

Asked last week about future security arrangements for the couple, U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said it was a private matter for the Sussexes, adding that he and his family “wish them well in the moves that they are making.”

On Friday, Prince Harry and six other high-profile claimants were ordered to pay several million dollars to the publisher of the Daily Mail after their claims against the paper were deemed by a court to be “unreasonable to a high degree.”