'Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's return to the UK poses one key question - why now?'

For much of the last six years, Harry and Meghan have engaged in a game of battleships from the relative safety of 5,000 miles away. The only issue is, they’ve been the only ones launching the bombs. Now, suddenly peace has been declared and they’re coming back to the UK to live. As the shockwaves continue to reverberate around the households, from Buckingham Palace to Balmoral, there surely is only one question to be answered: why now? Has the money - of which there has been bundles shoved into the coffers of two willing participants, ready to spill every minute detail over how awful the royals are - really run out already? Has Prince Harry come to his senses and realised trashing your family for cash isn’t a good look after all? Or have the deals from the streaming giants and tech bros ground to a halt, requiring a grand old reinvention pronto? I guess any of the above could be true. One thing is for certain: nothing is ever as it seems with the Sussexes. For a couple who have spent years putting extraordinary distance between themselves and the institution Harry was born into, any reintroduction will be a little awkward. You can’t go round calling your dad, the actual King, an old man; suggesting your mother-in-law is dangerous and those who remain unnamed are a bunch of racists, and expect to be welcomed round for Sunday lunch. Regardless of what the Sussex spin doctors want to suggest, regarding “multiple reasons” for Harry and Meghan upping sticks and returning to a country Harry deemed too unsafe to bring his family a few months ago, the reasons will be entirely self-serving. Now I’ve never been a fan of Suits, but perhaps reports of Meghan returning to acting in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen on Netflix could be the reason. Such a gig just might be an added reason to relocate your family for……although has anyone cared to tell them they’ve just missed the best British summer ever?! The crucial point for Harry, and one he really must now surely realise, is that it is no coincidence that relations have improved for him and his family—well, mainly just him and the King—when he has kept his counsel. No more interviews, no more bad mouthing and certainly no more bombshell books. While he has spoken of wanting reconciliation - and even apologies - from his family, not even telling his father of his grand plan to return when he was welcomed into his Highgrove home for tea and cake seems incredibly at odds with such a plan. Whatever the reasons, it is difficult to imagine a clearer illustration of just how fractured relations remain between the two camps. The King, to his credit, appears to have gritted his teeth and accepted the situation. For a father and grandfather, there will inevitably be genuine happiness at the prospect of seeing Archie and Lilibet more often. But again, everything brings us back to one question which cannot simply be brushed aside. What exactly is driving this? Is it family? A desire to reconnect with Britain? Or something rather more calculated? The Sussexes have built a hugely lucrative life in America since walking away from royal duties. They have signed multimillion-pound commercial deals, produced television programmes, published books and given interviews which have laid bare their grievances with the Royal Family. But the sheen has undoubtedly faded. Having recently spent time in California, I was struck by how little of the extraordinary fascination with the Sussexes that once existed appears to remain. That is anecdotal, of course, and America is a vast country. But conversations I had with Californians and people from elsewhere in the US suggested a striking lack of enthusiasm for the couple. The question, therefore, is whether Britain represents a new opportunity. Could Meghan's lifestyle ambitions benefit from a European launch? Could Harry see a future in which Britain becomes a more important part of his family's life? Or do they genuinely believe there is an appetite among the British public for their return to royal life? That last possibility would surely be the most explosive. Because there is one thing the King and his heir appear to have been united on: there can be no return to a "half-in, half-out" model of royal life. And that is where the problem becomes almost impossible to solve. How could Harry and Meghan simply walk back into the institution they have spent years attacking? They have accused members of the Royal Family of abandonment, made deeply damaging allegations and publicly discussed claims of racism. Those accusations have not simply disappeared because time has passed. Forgiveness is one thing. Rebuilding trust is another. And then there is the Prince and Princess of Wales. William and Catherine have endured an extraordinary couple of years, from the Princess's cancer battle to the increasing pressure on William as the King's own health problems have brought the reality of his future role into sharper focus. They have emerged from that period looking more resilient than ever. Whatever their private feelings about Harry and Meghan's latest plans, there is little reason to believe they will allow the future of the monarchy to be derailed. William's position is particularly important. He is not simply Harry's older brother anymore. He is the heir to the throne. Any decision about bringing the Sussexes back into the royal fold would ultimately have consequences for the institution he will one day inherit. And that is why this seemingly simple decision about where two children go to school could become something much bigger. The King may want reconciliation. He may desperately want a closer relationship with his grandchildren. But if reconciliation turns into a demand for a renewed royal role, the stakes change dramatically. After six years of conducting their most damaging battles from an ocean away, Harry and Meghan are potentially bringing themselves – and all the unresolved tensions that come with them – right back into the heart of the Windsor family. Whatever happens next, one thing feels almost certain. The fireworks have not gone away. They have merely moved considerably closer.