Few couples in the world generate as much sustained public attention as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to sit at the intersection of royal drama, celebrity culture and social activism. And right now, in April 2026, there is more happening around this couple than at almost any point since their departure from the royal family in 2020.
From a high-profile tour of Australia that landed just this week, to a shocking lawsuit from one of Harry’s own charities. To Meghan’s independent business pivot and their ongoing Hollywood relationship with Netflix — there is a lot to unpack. This article brings you fully up to speed on where Harry and Meghan stand today, what it all means, and what to watch next.
Who Are Harry and Meghan in 2026? A Quick Context Reset
Prince Harry, 41, is the younger son of King Charles III and the late Princess Diana. He is currently fifth in line to the British throne. Though he stepped back from his role as a working royal in January 2020 alongside his wife, Meghan Markle, 44 — the American actress and humanitarian who became the Duchess of Sussex when the couple married at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
The two now live in Montecito, California, with their children Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4. They co-founded the Archewell Foundation to support charitable causes including children’s online safety, mental health awareness, and female empowerment. They also run Archewell Productions, their entertainment production company.
Their departure from royal duties — often referred to in the press as “Megxit” — set off years of public controversy, fractured family relations, and intense media scrutiny that, six years later, shows no real signs of slowing down.
Breaking: Harry and Meghan Arrive in Australia — April 2026
The most immediately breaking development is that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have just arrived in Australia. The couple touched down in Melbourne on the evening of April 13, 2026, aboard a commercial Qantas flight, travelling first class. This marks their first visit to Australia since their official royal tour in 2018. A trip that drew massive crowds across the country over 16 days when they were still working royals.
This time, the context is very different. The visit is a four-day tour taking them through Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney, combining philanthropic engagements, business activity, and private events.
Harry in Melbourne: Prince Harry is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne on April 15–16. The summit focuses on workplace mental health and psychological safety. A cause that aligns closely with Harry’s advocacy work in this area, including his own public discussions of trauma and mental health struggles.
Meghan in Sydney: From April 17–19, the Duchess is set to speak at the Her Best Life luxury wellness retreat at the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach — an event co-hosted by Australian media personality Jackie O Henderson. Tickets for the event are priced between $2,699 and $3,199 AUD per person, which has drawn criticism from some Australian commentators given the country’s current cost-of-living pressures.
The trip has not been without controversy. A petition was set up in Australia calling for the government not to fund security or logistics for the pair’s visit, given that they are private citizens and not official representatives of the Crown. The debate touches on broader questions about Australia’s relationship with the monarchy — a topic that has grown more politically charged in recent years.
Meghan’s Business Expansion: The “As Ever” Brand Goes Global
One of the most significant commercial storylines around the Sussexes right now is Meghan’s move to take her lifestyle brand As Ever international — starting with Australia.
Originally soft-launched in 2024 under the name “American Riviera Orchard,” the brand was officially renamed As Ever and launched commercially in April 2025, initially with Netflix’s backing alongside Meghan’s lifestyle television series With Love, Meghan. The product line includes raspberry jam, herbal teas, candles, honey, and a range of home goods — classic “elevated lifestyle” offerings in the tradition of brands like Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop.
However, the brand has faced some significant headwinds in recent months. Netflix confirmed in early 2026 that it had ended its direct financial investment in As Ever, and With Love, Meghan was not renewed for a full third season after viewership for the second season reportedly declined. Meghan is now running As Ever independently.
Despite this, there are real signs of momentum. Ahead of the Australia trip, Meghan registered 12 new trademarks for As Ever with the Australian Government’s intellectual property office — filings originally submitted in September 2024 and granted last year. The trademark portfolio reportedly spans a diverse range of product categories including skincare, food products, dog treats, and gardening gear.
Industry watchers note that Australia represents a genuinely promising market for As Ever. The country has a strong culture of artisan food and wellness products, high brand affinity for lifestyle-oriented celebrity entrepreneurs, and an English-speaking consumer base that already knows who Meghan is. Successfully launching As Ever Down Under could serve as a meaningful proof of concept for further international expansion.
The Sentebale Lawsuit: Harry’s Most Painful Legal Battle Yet
Just days before the Australia departure, a fresh legal storm broke around Prince Harry. This one is particularly striking because it comes not from a tabloid, a government institution, or a member of the press. It comes from one of his own charities.
On April 10, 2026, court records were made public showing that Sentebale — a charity Harry co-founded in 2006 in memory of his mother, Princess Diana, to support young people living with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana — has filed a defamation and libel claim against the Duke of Sussex at the High Court in London. The case, formally titled Sentebale v Duke of Sussex and another, was filed on March 24, 2026. Also named as a defendant is Mark Dyer, a long-time friend and mentor of Harry’s and former Sentebale trustee.
The background to this lawsuit runs deep. A public dispute between Harry and Sentebale’s board chair, Dr. Sophie Chandauka, erupted in March 2025, when Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho — the charity’s co-founders — resigned as patrons, citing concerns about Chandauka’s leadership and management of the charity’s funds. The trustees also resigned en masse. Chandauka responded by accusing Harry of “harassment and bullying at scale” and reporting him to the UK’s Charity Commission.
The Charity Commission conducted a four-month investigation and ultimately found no evidence of widespread bullying or harassment. It did, however, criticise all parties for allowing an internal dispute to become public — a finding that satisfied nobody fully.
Now, the current Sentebale leadership is alleging that Harry and Dyer orchestrated a “coordinated adverse media campaign” that has caused “operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity, its leadership and its strategic partners.” They describe the two men as the “architects” of a campaign that triggered an “onslaught of cyber-bullying” directed at the charity.
Harry’s spokesperson issued a firm denial, stating that the Duke and his co-defendant “categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims.”
The stakes of this lawsuit extend well beyond the legal specifics. If the case proceeds and courts find against him, the reputational damage to his philanthropic image could be significant and lasting. It is, in many ways, the most personally consequential legal challenge he has faced.
The Netflix Relationship
Harry and Meghan’s relationship with Netflix has been one of the defining commercial partnerships of their post-royal life — and in 2026, it is going through a complicated transition.
The couple signed a high-profile multi-year content deal with Netflix in 2020. It produced their documentary Harry & Meghan (2022), the docuseries Polo (2024), and With Love, Meghan (2025). However, Netflix reportedly downgraded the couple’s deal to a first-look arrangement in August 2025, and as noted above, ended its financial partnership with Meghan’s As Ever brand.
Reports in early April 2026 suggested tension behind the scenes, with sources claiming Harry and Meghan demanded Netflix conduct an “internal investigation” into who had been leaking negative information about the couple to the press — insiders suggesting the Sussexes were “demanding names” and “real consequences.”
However, as with most things in the Sussex story, the picture shifted quickly. On April 11, just hours after the Sentebale lawsuit became public, Harry and Meghan appeared together at Netflix’s Beef Season 2 Tastemaker event in Montecito, California, posing for photos with Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos and his wife. The display of unity was unmistakable — and deliberate.
More substantively, Netflix confirmed in March 2026 that it is teaming up with Archewell Productions to develop a new scripted drama series based on the world of polo — suggesting that despite the renegotiated deal terms, the creative partnership is genuinely ongoing. A spokesperson for the couple confirmed that With Love, Meghan is not cancelled and will return for seasonal specials, even without a full third season order.
The Netflix relationship appears to have evolved from a broad, all-encompassing deal into something more selective and project-specific. That may ultimately be a healthier long-term arrangement for both parties. But it does raise questions about the financial model underpinning the Sussexes’ independence, particularly as their Spotify deal expired earlier.
Philanthropy and Advocacy: The Archewell Foundation in 2026
Away from the business and legal headlines, the Sussexes remain genuinely active in the philanthropic space. In late February 2026, a video of the couple was shown at the 57th Annual NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles, where they celebrated the fifth anniversary of the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award. The award honours individuals championing civil and human rights in the digital space. A cause the couple launched because, as they put it in the video, “the fight for civil rights didn’t end at the doorstep of the digital world.”
In late February, just before the NAACP event, the couple made a surprise two-day visit to Jordan in partnership with the World Health Organization, focusing on mental health and addiction treatment. Observers noted that the trip represented a “new vision” for their charitable work in 2026. More targeted, more internationally oriented, and more connected to specific institutional partners rather than solo advocacy.
Royal Family Relations: Where Things Stand
If you are wondering whether Harry and his family have reconciled, the honest answer in April 2026 is: not really. There is no public evidence of a meaningful restoration of the relationship between Harry, King Charles, and Prince William. Harry and Meghan remain in California; the senior royals remain in the UK; and the distance — geographic, emotional, and institutional — remains vast.
The couple has been careful in recent months to avoid publicly re-inflaming tensions. Meghan reportedly stepped back from plans for a second memoir. Whether this reflects a genuine strategic olive branch or simply a calculation that the book’s commercial moment has passed is unclear. Given that Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare remains one of the most controversial publications in modern royal history, the decision not to add another chapter seems prudent.
For American audiences in particular, the Harry and Meghan story continues to resonate because it touches on themes that go far beyond British royalty. Race and identity in institutions built before diversity was a value. The tension between family loyalty and personal authenticity, the viability of independence in the post-traditional media age, and what it means to rebuild a public identity from scratch. Those are questions that land differently in the United States than they do in the UK. They partly explain why the couple maintains a stronger and more sympathetic following on this side of the Atlantic.
What to Watch in the Months Ahead
There is no shortage of storylines to follow. Here is a summary of the key things to track:
The Australia tour wraps up around April 17–19. The reception the couple receives — commercially, culturally, and publicly — will tell us something meaningful about their international standing and the potential for As Ever’s global expansion.
As Ever’s trajectory in the second half of 2026 will be revealing. Can Meghan build a sustainable direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand without a Netflix platform underneath it? The Australian trademarks suggest she is building for the long term.
The Netflix polo drama is one to watch creatively. A well-received scripted series would significantly strengthen Archewell Productions’ position in Hollywood and shift the narrative around the couple’s entertainment output.
Royal family dynamics will likely remain largely quiet — but any significant health development involving King Charles. Any news around Harry’s UK visa status or any movement around the question of royal titles could quickly change the temperature.
Final Thoughts
What makes Prince Harry and Meghan Markle genuinely interesting as a subject in 2026 is not the tabloid noise. It is the underlying question of whether their project of independence is actually working. They left the most storied institution in the world with very few safety nets and a great deal of public skepticism. They have been building — sometimes clumsily, sometimes impressively — ever since.
The answer right now is: partly yes, partly not yet. The Archewell Foundation is doing real charitable work. The Invictus Games continues to grow. As Ever has genuine commercial promise. But the Netflix deal has contracted, the Sentebale lawsuit is genuinely serious, and the couple’s Hollywood momentum has slowed.
What is undeniable is that they remain two of the most watched, most discussed, and most consequential public figures in the world — not despite the complexity of their story, but because of it.
For the latest verified updates on the couple as the Australia tour continues, the BBC’s ongoing royal coverage provides some of the most factually consistent reporting available. And if you are interested in reading more about the broader Sussex story in the context of modern royal history, our in-depth analysis of Meghan Markle’s influence on the British monarchy breaks down the larger cultural and institutional forces at play.