The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to move back to Britain in a shock development more than six years after they relocated to the US, it has been reported.

The couple will return to the UK later this month – making their home in a non-royal residence outside of London – and have already enrolled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in British schools.

It is understood there will be no change to Harry and Meghan’s role and status as private individuals and non-working members of the royal family.

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The couple were once rumoured to be looking to buy Beggars Lodge in Great Tew, near Chipping Norton in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, back in 2018.

The speculation arose because the property was reportedly bought by an unnamed purchaser shortly after Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in November 2017.

Some reports said villagers believed the intended owners could be the couple, but Kensington Palace never confirmed this and they later quit the UK for the US.

However, Beggars Lodge now has a planning application submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council.

Owners John and Fiona Williams have plans to install a 20,000 litre water storage tank for irrigation of approved tree planting within the wider grounds of Beggars Lodge.

The plans have not yet been decided on by the council.

In January 2020, the duke and duchess announced they intended to step back as “senior” members of the royal family, become financially independent, still support Elizabeth II, but split their time between the UK and North America.

The late Queen ruled at the Sandringham Summit, which was convened to resolve the crisis, that the couple could not be half in and half out.

By March 2020, they had set up a permanent home in California, officially stepped down as senior royals and stopped using their HRH styles.

The shock announcement comes less than two months after the duke was trying to find a way to safely bring his wife and children to the UK to mark the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games in Birmingham.

At the end of June, he was still waiting for a review by the Risk Management Board (RMB), part of the process by which the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) rules on his security requirements – and he and his security detail were working behind the scenes to try to ensure the visit could take place safely.

Meghan was able to travel to the UK in July with Archie and Lilibet to join Harry when he came to the end of a week-long series of events promoting the games.

During the visit, the duke and duchess took their children to see the King for the first time in four years at his Highgrove home, but are not thought to have raised the prospect of a return to the UK at that meeting.

The Invictus Games take place from July 10-27 next year, with Birmingham expected to welcome around 550 wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, and their families, from 25 nations.

On Wednesday night, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate.

“It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”

The Home Secretary does not get involved in security arrangements for members of the royal family or other key public figures, and decisions are taken by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures.

The committee’s membership includes the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and the royal household, who work together to advise the independent chair in making decisions, which are informed by expert risk assessments and in line with Government policy.

Harry was meeting US military veterans at an event in Washington DC on Wednesday where he told them skills from former service personnel needed to be valued more highly.

A spokesman for the duke and duchess has yet to comment.