The Harry and Meghan show is relatable. Really?

The couple’s detractors will claim that the “return” is like a new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. That the spotlight will become brighter if there’s family drama in the UK.

2 min readAug 22, 2026 07:08 AM IST First published on: Aug 22, 2026 at 07:08 AM IST

Take their words at face value, and it seems like “royalty” is driven by the same concerns as those who have to work for a living. Harry Windsor and Meghan Markle, who left the former’s homeland for the US after making much ado about the many flaws within the royal family, have announced that they will return to the UK. Reportedly, the ostensible reason for their return is that the “spare” prince, entering middle age, wants his children to have a connection to their roots. There are also concerns over King Charles’s health, and a reconciliation is better sooner than later. Children and parents, family and culture, the comfort of being home over an uprooted existence — it’s all very relatable.

But this sense of “they are like us only” goes only so far. Harry’s naivety is rooted in a unique kind of warped privilege, a gilded cage always under the spotlight. But that spotlight is part of the “job” and the royal reality TV circus stops Britons from asking why, even as public healthcare and housing crumble, they are subsidising a family. Meghan, who had some minor successes in Hollywood, should have known that good content thrives on conflict: People watch when there is drama.

The couple’s detractors will claim that the “return” is like a new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. That the spotlight will become brighter if there’s family drama in the UK. That’s a bit mean-spirited. Their fame and recent dip in fortunes do not preclude genuinely emotional reasons for going back. And, like most people, royals can probably lie to themselves about why they do what they do.