Meghan Markle to Return to Acting for First Time in Nearly a Decade as She and Prince Harry Move Back to U.K.

The Duke and Duchess are returning to England for an “extended period of time” later this month

Meghan Markle is set to return to acting.

PEOPLE has learned the Duchess of Sussex has been offered a major new project, marking her most significant role since leaving Suits—and one that also helped shape the timing of her and Prince Harry’s move back to Britain with Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, after six years in California. Details of the project remain under wraps.

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to comment and did not deny the project.

The project was first reported by news.com.au royal correspondent Bronte Coy, who told BBC Radio Four’s Today program on Friday, Aug. 21, “I’m told it’s significant, and she’s very excited about it.”

The news comes two days after PEOPLE revealed that Harry and Meghan were returning to the U.K. later this month with their children. PEOPLE also reported that the children had been enrolled in school in Britain and that the family planned to spend an extended period there while establishing a private, non-royal home base.

The move, however, is not intended to be permanent. The Sussexes will retain their Montecito, California, home, while Meghan’s business ventures — including As ever, Archewell Productions and their charitable foundation, Archewell Philanthropies — will remain based in the United States. Harry, meanwhile, will continue his charitable work on both sides of the Atlantic, including preparations for the Invictus Games, which are set to take place in Birmingham, England, in July 2027.

Together, Meghan’s new project, Harry’s charitable commitments and Archie and Lilibet’s education helped align the timing for what sources have described as the family’s next chapter in Britain.

Meghan was starring as Rachel Zane on the long-running legal drama Suits when she met Harry in 2016. She filmed her final episodes in late 2017 ahead of their 2018 wedding, telling the BBC at the time that she was leaving acting behind to begin a “new chapter.”

That chapter has gradually brought her back in front of the camera. Last year, Meghan made her first on-screen appearance since leaving Suits, filming a cameo as herself in Close Personal Friends, alongside Lily Collins and Jack Quaid. She was first spotted on set in Pasadena, Calif., in November 2025, where a source told PEOPLE she appeared “very relaxed and happy.”

“She introduced herself to everyone and was very sweet and down-to-earth,” the source said at the time.

When Harry and Meghan arrive back in Britain, they will have their first home base in the country since they relinquished the lease on Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor residence gifted to them by the late Queen Elizabeth in 2023. Harry’s father King Charles, 77, asked them to vacate the property following the publication of Harry’s raw 2023 memoir, Spare.

The King was made aware of the couple’s upcoming plans on Sunday, August 16, PEOPLE understands, and is understood to welcome the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity.

He was reunited with his grandchildren for the first time in more than four years in July, when Harry and Meghan returned to the U.K. with Archie and Lilibet for a visit that included tea at the monarch’s private country home Highgrove House.

Harry and Meghan also visited Althorp House, where Princess Diana spent much of her childhood and is buried. Harry’s uncle, Charles Spencer, and his wife, Cat Jarman, now live at the residence.

During the visit to the property, Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet spent time with members of the wider Spencer family and are believed to have paid their respects at Diana’s gravesite on the island in the Oval Lake.

Via: People