Harry and Meghan 'cheerleader' Omid Scobie says the couple have 'slowly and methodically' planned their return to Britain 'with clues there all along'

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 05:31 EDT, 21 August 2026 | Updated: 05:32 EDT, 21 August 2026 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been 'slowly and methodically' planning their move back to Britain, controversial royal reporter Omid Scobie has claimed.Mr Scobie, the British journalist known for his close relationship with the couple, said clues about the Sussexes leaving America after six years 'have been there all along'.He cited how the Duke and Duchess had reduced the size of their US office and restructured their Archewell Foundation, rebranding it as Archewell Philanthropies.It comes after King Charles, who is still living with cancer, was first made aware of the move on Sunday, only three days before it was made public on Wednesday night.The Sussexes will make their new home in a non-royal residence outside of London – and have already enrolled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in British schools.But there will be no change to the couple's role and status as private individuals and non-working members of the royal family after they stepped down in 2020.Mr Scobie told ABC News in a clip he then posted on his Instagram page: 'I think if you've been watching the story really closely, the clues have been there all along.'We saw earlier this year that Harry and Meghan started to scale down the size of their offices here, the number of staff working for them in the US. Royal reporter Omid Scobie speaks yesterday about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's move Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at a David Foster Foundation event in Canada on August 7'We also saw them scale down their charitable foundation as well to operate on a different working model. And so you can see then along the way this is a couple that have been slowly and methodically planning some form of move.'Whether it's the version that was announced yesterday, only they know, but this is definitely a couple that have been looking to make changes, for sure.'He also posted a tweet on his X account for the first time since March 12, uploading an image of himself looking at the camera with the caption: 'This thing still on?'Mr Scobie was dubbed Harry and Meghan's 'cheerleader' when he became their most trusted journalist through their relationship and departure from royal life.He co-authored the 2020 book Finding Freedom, a biography which chronicled the Sussexes in glowing terms and outlined their many frustrations with royal life.Mr Scobie was then at the centre of a huge royal race row in November 2023 when the Dutch translation of his book Endgame named two royals who were said to have asked what colour skin Harry and Meghan's child Prince Archie would have before he was born.But he has since transitioned to fiction writing and TV production, relocating to Los Angeles and releasing a romantic novel called 'Royal Spin' in February.The book is about an American press agent who leaves behind her career at the White House for a communications job in London at Buckingham Palace.Universal Television is developing a TV series based on the novel for NBC's Peacock, with Mr Scobie serving as writer, co-creator and executive producer.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.