Prince Harry and ‌his family have arrived back in Britain, according to reports, only days after it was revealed he and wife Meghan Markle were relocating six years after quitting royal duties and moving to ‌the US.

Last week, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, surprised even their close family when it was disclosed that they would move back from Montecito, California to ‌somewhere outside London for what was described as an extended period of time.

Their children, seven-year-old Prince Archie and five-year-old Princess Lilibet, will start school in Britain in September.

Precise details about where the family will live and the school the children will attend remain private.

However, the Sussexes will not live in a royal residence or carry out official duties.

The BBC and Sky News reported the family landed in Britain on Wednesday (local time) after flying in from California. The Daily Telegraph reporting their private plane landed at Birmingham International Airport about noon.

The Sussexes were said to have travelled on a Bombardier Global Express XRS luxury long-range business jet for the overnight flight.

Flight tracking websites showed a private charter flight from Van Nuys, California, arrived at the airport at 11.56am.

A spokesman for Harry and Meghan declined to comment on their travel movements, citing the importance of privacy and security.

“This is not something we would comment on,” a spokesman said.

Despite the lack of clarity surrounding the couple’s return, the spokesman did confirm that Harry and Meghan’s brood of chickens would remain in Montecito to be cared for there. They have, however, brought two dogs – Mia and Pula – with them.

Harry and Meghan left ‌for the US in 2020, ⁠stepping down from official royal duties to chart independent careers. But they never left the headlines as the prince accused ​the royals of neglect, the tabloid press of ruining his life and the British government of failing to provide enough security for him to ever return home.

His father the King found out about their impending return only days before the decision became public. The couple will remain non-working royals, as was agreed with the late Queen Elizabeth.

Harry and the King’s relationship has improved in recent months, with the duke’s family visiting Britain last month, allowing the King to see his grandchildren for the first time since 2022.

But Harry is still barely on speaking ⁠terms with his brother, heir-to-the-throne Prince William.

The ‌announcement that he and Meghan would return came a day before a London court ruling that Harry could be liable to pay millions of dollars to the publisher of the Daily Mail after a failed privacy lawsuit.

Media reports have said Meghan is in talks about returning to acting in Guy Ritchie’s TV drama The Gentlemen. Neither her representatives nor those involved in the show have commented, and it was later reported the offer had been withdrawn because of a backlash.

Harry has always been clear he wants his children to spend more time ​in Britain and to see their grandfather, especially given the 77-year-old monarch is still being treated for cancer.

“It’s really worth remembering this might not be some terribly cynical ​move or some desperate move, it might ⁠be a very human move – ‘I want to be near my dad’,” a former senior royal aide said.

-with AP and PA