Did Harry & Meghan run out of options?

“Don’t give it five minutes if you’re not going to give it five years.”

— Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in her keynote speech at the Create & Cultivate conference 2016

In the end, it was five years if one factors out the pandemic that effectively stymied their plans for around 18 months. The news that the Sussexes are swapping their baseball hats and surfing shorts for woolens and rain gear suitable for a new life in the United Kingdom broke at 2 p.m. Montecito time on Wednesday, August 19.

The spin from Team Sussex is shiny and positive:

• The kids — Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5 — will enroll in British schools in September

• They will live in a private residence in the United Kingdom

• “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,” writes Simon Perry in People

• Harry wants to spend more time with his U.K.-based charities, especially in the lead-up to the Invictus Games next summer.

• Meghan will run her As Ever brand from the United Kingdom.

• Their security concerns have been satisfied

Yet, look under that glossy surface and some potholes appear.

In the past six years, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have rejected all things British as they embraced California life and society. They repeatedly lambasted British society and royal life as filled with accusations of racism in the royal family (later downgraded to unconscious bias).

As Camilla Tominey said in a special edition of the Daily T podcast, this was about the “evil U.K. tabloid press pushing Meghan to the brink of suicide. This was about this green and pleasant land being so unconsciously biased that the people here much preferred William and Kate.”

Now, they are returning.

King Charles III was “made aware” of those plans on Sunday. “He was said to be naturally pleased for the opportunity to see more of his family on a regular basis, both in a private and personal capacity,” wrote Victoria Ward in the Telegraph.

So what has changed?

It increasingly felt like Harry and Meghan had boxed themselves into a corner in California. None of their current projects have proved to be big money-spinners. Their popularity is low on both sides of the Atlantic.

Returning to Britain may be the only move left for the couple.

Such a move won’t give them everything they want. Let’s game out the issues.

There’s no hint of a change in their security status, even though Harry is pushing for a change after losing his appeal for the return to his 24/7 police protection (they currently get police protection on a “case-by-case” basis). He’d long said that Britain wasn’t safe for him to bring Meghan and his children back to the United Kingdom. But he did exactly that a few weeks ago.

Given the King was only told on Sunday suggests that Harry may have bowed to reality and will have to pay for private security.

In a late update on Wednesday, Cameron Walker of GB News posted: “Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood [ed: believed to be pro-Sussex] will not take part in any decision on the Sussexes’ UK security. They remain ineligible for taxpayer-funded protection outside royal residences, despite Harry’s protests.”

They aren’t getting the “half-in, half-out” royal roles they coveted when they suddenly announced they were leaving full-time royal duties on January 8, 2020. Six years ago, they wanted to combine official duties on behalf of the monarch (recorded in the Court Circular, with full police protection, organized by officials paid by the Sovereign Grant) with commercial and business ventures (As Ever, their paid speaking gigs, the Netflix deal, the defunct Spotify deal, etc).

The Queen said no. Now the King is also saying no. “The King is clear that the Duke and Duchess’s status as non-working royals and private individuals, in keeping with their previously expressed wishes, will remain unchanged,” stated Victoria Ward in the Telegraph, using wording used by other journalists also given the heads-up by the Sussexes.

The message from the palace: They will not be doing work on behalf of the monarchy, now performed by 10 royals, from the King to his mother’s 90-year-old cousin, the Duke of Kent.

Their British home will be both private and non-royal, meaning they won’t be enveloped by the royal security that comes with a home on a royal estate.

Maybe one option is to move into one of the many homes on the Althorp estate of Harry’s Uncle Charles.

While based in Britain, they will also retain their estate in Montecito and their home in Portugal. That means some significant outlays in terms of property costs, maintenance, and even moving back and forth between those homes.

In 2022, she was scathing in the thought of returning to Britain, especially how it would affect the children. As Alison Davis wrote in her big The Cut exclusive interview: "She'd remarked upon how, if Archie were in school in the UK, she'd never be able to do school pickup and drop-off without it being a royal photo call with a press pen of 40 people snapping pictures."

Now, that no longer seems to be a concern.

Harry wants to spend more time with his U.K. charities. But he doesn’t have many. The only ones he’s visited during recent trips have been Scotty’s Little Soldiers, WellChild, and the Invictus Games.

As a private member of the royal family, he’ll have to finance those activities himself.

Being based in the paradise that is California is a big part of how Meghan markets her lifestyle brand. Her videos are filled with her luxuriating in her extensive gardens and grounds in Montecito. Now, she’ll be selling fruit spreads and California wines from nine zones away.

That’s going to be an odd fit, given that As Ever products are still sold only to U.S.-based customers. Though perhaps she’ll finally expand her customer base beyond her home country.

• They are both wealthy, having Harry’s family inheritances as well as Meghan’s savings from her TV career.

• Meghan has her As Ever brand.

• Harry has his gig as the “chief impact officer” of BetterUp (it is a private firm, so executive compensation isn’t public.)

• They have a “first peek” contract with Netflix, though no significant signs of life in any of the announced projects.

They have a lot of expenses. Their annual outlay must be massive. Many of those commercial endeavours could bring in a lot of coin on a short-term basis but aren’t a long-term solution for a middle-aged couple who aren’t exactly the young, hip influencers who can generate big incomes by constantly selling their lifestyle on social media.

Harry and Meghan need a truly lucrative deal to keep the plates spinning for the next three or four decades. I can think of one way to replenish their coffers: another royal-related series for Netflix.