ACTUAL 97% — HARRY & MEGHAN’S U.K. MOVE CALLED A “MISTAKE” BY EXPRESS READERS, BUT THE REAL STORY IS MORE COMPLICATED
97% said no.
That was the striking result when Daily Express U.S. readers were asked a simple question about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s dramatic return to Britain:
Was moving back to the U.K. a good decision?
Of the 1,373 people who responded, 97% said no.
Only 3% said yes.
On the surface, the number looks devastating.
But there is a crucial detail behind it: this was a Daily Express U.S. reader poll, not a nationally representative survey of the British public.
And when a representative UK poll asked a broader question about Harry and Meghan’s return, the picture was considerably more mixed.
So why did the 97% figure explode — and what does it actually tell us about the Sussexes’ return?
The 97% Number Is Real — But It Needs Context
The Daily Express U.S. poll was published after Harry and Meghan returned to Britain following roughly six years of life in California.
The couple had announced their intention to spend an extended period in the U.K., bringing Archie and Lilibet into a very different environment from the one they had known in Montecito.
But the family's return quickly became surrounded by complications.
According to the Daily Express U.S. poll results, 1,373 respondents said returning to Britain was the wrong decision, while only 3% supported the move.
That produced the headline-grabbing 97%.
But the wording matters.
It does not mean that 97% of Britons believe Harry and Meghan made a mistake.
It means that 97% of people who responded to that particular Daily Express U.S. reader poll answered that way.
That distinction should not be lost.
Because another poll paints a very different picture.
What Do Britons Actually Think?
Ipsos conducted a representative survey of 1,090 British adults aged 18 to 75 between Aug. 28 and Aug. 31.
When asked specifically about Harry and Meghan returning to live in the U.K., 48% said they neither supported nor opposed the move.
Meanwhile, 18% supported their return and 29% opposed it.
That is a very different picture from 97%.
And it reveals something important.
A large portion of the British public may simply not feel strongly enough about the Sussexes' return to take a side.
YouGov's own August polling found something similar in another way: when asked how much they cared about the news that Harry and Meghan were moving back to Britain, 60% of British adults said “not at all,” while another 27% said “not very much.” Only 10% said they cared a great deal or a fair amount.
So the biggest story may not actually be that Britain has overwhelmingly rejected Harry and Meghan.
It may be that many Britons simply aren't particularly invested in the move.
Then Why Does the 97% Figure Feel So Powerful?
Because the timing is extraordinary.
Harry and Meghan returned to Britain expecting to begin a new chapter.
But almost immediately, the family encountered a problem involving their children's schooling.
Archie and Lilibet reportedly started at a British prep school and were moved after only two days following security concerns surrounding the commute.
The issue reportedly involved traffic, predictable travel patterns and the pressure those arrangements placed on the family's security operation.
The children were subsequently moved to another school.
That created an uncomfortable first impression.
The Sussexes had returned to Britain partly to build a more permanent family life.
And one of the most basic pieces of that plan — where their children would attend school — had to be changed almost immediately.
For readers already skeptical of the move, the episode became easy to interpret as evidence that returning to Britain was more complicated than expected.
But it does not prove the move was a mistake.
It proves that the family's original school arrangements did not work under their security circumstances.
Then Came the Palace Letter
The school issue was not the only complication.
The Palace also reaffirmed Harry and Meghan's position within the Royal Family.
The couple remain non-working royals and private citizens.
That means their return to Britain does not amount to a return to official royal duties.
Their presence in the country does not restore the institutional role they held before stepping back from royal duties.
That distinction is especially important because Harry and Meghan are now physically closer to the Royal Family while remaining institutionally outside the working monarchy.
It is a strange middle ground.
They are back in Britain.
Their children are attending British schools.
Harry has resumed some public-facing charitable activity.
Harry has also renewed contact with his father, King Charles.
Yet the central rupture with Prince William remains unresolved.
That creates an unusual situation: physical proximity without a full royal reconciliation.
Harry Has One Relationship Back — But Not the One That Matters Most
Harry's relationship with his father appears to have warmed.
Reports have described contact between Harry and Charles since the Sussexes returned.
But the situation with William remains dramatically different.
Recent reporting has described the relationship between the brothers as deeply strained, with no clear restoration of a normal private or working relationship.
That matters because William and Catherine are raising the next generation of the monarchy.
Prince George has now started at Eton, the same school attended by both William and Harry.
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis remain part of the same family unit.
Meanwhile, Archie and Lilibet are establishing their own lives in Britain outside the working royal structure.
The children are therefore physically closer to one another than they have been for years.
But the adults remain separated by a complicated family history.
And that may be one of the biggest unanswered questions surrounding Harry and Meghan's return.
The Security Question Has Not Gone Away
The school controversy also points to a larger issue.
Harry has spent years arguing that his family faces significant security risks in Britain.
After the family's return, the U.K.'s Royal and VIP Executive Committee — RAVEC — moved to conduct new risk assessments involving Harry and Meghan.
That does not automatically mean they will receive the level of police protection Harry has sought.
It means their circumstances are being reassessed in light of their return and their children's presence in Britain.
The school change demonstrated why the issue is so complicated.
A normal family routine can become a security problem when the same route, same timing and same destination are repeated.
And for a family whose movements attract intense public attention, anonymity becomes much harder to maintain.
That is one of the fundamental challenges Harry and Meghan face if they want to make Britain their long-term home.
But Is Britain Really Saying “No”?
The 97% headline makes it sound that way.
The broader polling says something more nuanced.
Ipsos found that 29% of Britons opposed Harry and Meghan returning to live in Britain.
But 48% neither supported nor opposed the idea.
And 18% supported it.
Even more revealing, Ipsos found that 38% believed a reconciliation between Harry and Meghan and other members of the Royal Family would be a good thing, compared with 17% who said it would be bad and 33% who said it would make no difference.
That suggests the British public is not united around one simple message.
Some people clearly remain critical of the Sussexes.
Others are open to reconciliation.
And many simply appear indifferent.
The 97% number therefore tells us more about the respondents of that particular reader poll than it does about the entire British population.
The Bigger Problem May Be the Reality of Life Back in Britain
Still, the Sussexes have faced several difficult questions since returning.
Where will their children go to school?
How will security work?
How much privacy can the family realistically maintain?
What happens to Harry's relationship with William?
What role, if any, can Harry and Meghan have in British public life while remaining non-working royals?
And perhaps the biggest question:
Can Harry and Meghan build a stable life in Britain without reopening the conflicts that drove them away in the first place?
That is a much more difficult question than whether a poll says their move was a mistake.
Because the return is still new.
The family has not had years to establish a routine.
The security arrangements are still being reassessed.
The children are only beginning their British school lives.
And Harry's relationship with his father appears to be developing while his relationship with William remains unresolved.
There is still a great deal that could change.
“A Mistake” May Be Too Simple
The 97% figure is undeniably dramatic.
But it would be misleading to turn it into a statement that 97% of Britons think Harry and Meghan made a mistake.
They don't.
At least, that is not what the poll demonstrates.
What it does show is that among the people who responded to the Daily Express U.S. reader poll, an overwhelming majority viewed the move negatively.
Representative British polling shows something much more divided — and much more apathetic.
And perhaps that is the real story.
Harry and Meghan did not return to a Britain waiting with one unified opinion about them.
They returned to a country where some people want reconciliation, some oppose their return, and a large number simply don't care very much.
Meanwhile, the practical challenges are already real.
Their children's school arrangements have changed.
Security remains an active issue.
The Palace has reaffirmed their non-working status.
And William remains separated from his brother.
So the most important question may not be:
“Was moving back a mistake?”
It may be:
“Can Harry and Meghan make the move work?”
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That answer cannot be found in a 97% reader poll.
It will be written by what happens next.
