Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were whisked away in an exclusive private security convoy as they prepared to start their new life in Britain.
The Sussexes landed at Birmingham Airport yesterday on a private plane from sun-soaked California. They were not met by any taxpayer-funded close police protection or had a police convoy – something they previously had when working royals – and were supported by their own private security team.
Security experts said the private motorcade could run into thousands of pounds everytime Harry and Meghan need to use them for public appearances. Former royal protection chief Dai Davies said the “bills are going to run up if this is how Harry insists on travelling around the UK now he is back”.
Three vehicles were seen leaving Birmingham Airport on Wednesday after Harry and Meghan landed (Image: © Kelvin Bruce)
New pictures have shown how they were met by three vehicles – a large £80,000 black Mercedes van as well as two black Range Rovers – which whisked them away from the airport and to their new home.
The Sussexes are not seen in the images but sitting in the front seat is believed to be David Langdown, who previously worked with Harry when he was a working royal.
Mr Langdown, known as ‘Langers’ is now working for a private security firm after retiring from the Met Police and is believed to be helping the family establish a security team in the UK. The vehicles turned up at the airport shortly before the Sussexes’ plane landed and left with the family and their team shortly after they arrived.
They travelled to the UK on a Bombardier Global Express XRS luxury long-range business jet for the overnight flight. The plane is owned and chartered by Planet Nine Private Aircraft, an aircraft rental company and the cost of hiring such a jet is believed to be an estimated $12,000 (£9,000) an hour.
A large van with blacked out windows on the tarmac at Birmingham Airport (Image: © Kelvin Bruce)
A spokesman for the duke and duchess declined to comment on their travel movements, citing the importance of privacy and security. “This is not something we would comment on,” the spokesman said.
Despite the lack of clarity surrounding the Sussexes’ return, the spokesman did however confirm that the couple’s brood of chickens would be staying in Montecito to be cared for there, but that they were bringing their dogs Mia and Pula with them.
The decision to keep on their house across the Atlantic and their beloved chickens there is being seen as a sign that they will still spend time in California. Yesterday, Meghan posted her first Instagram story since news of the move in which she chuckled at what appeared to be a tea towel with the message: “People who take care of chickens are literally chicken tenders”.
The plane believed to have brought the Sussexes to the UK at Birmingham Airport yesterday(Image: Anita Maric / SWNS)
Harry and Meghan, who are remaining as non-working royals, quit the monarchy six years ago amid the Megxit crisis, relocating to the US from where they criticised members of the royal family and the institution.
When the duke headed to Los Angeles from Canada in 2020, he filmed himself on the plane for his Netflix series, calling the journey their “freedom flight”.
The Sussexes’ dramatic U-turn was revealed last week, but the pair have yet to speak publicly about their plans. Harry previously insisted it was too dangerous to bring his wife and children to the UK with the security he was entitled to post-Megxit.
A long-awaited risk assessment, carried out on the orders of the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec), is said have taken place at the end of July, but Harry reportedly does not know the result. The duke, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan, is said to have pleaded with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for answers.
Prince Harry and Meghan with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet (Image: @meghan/Instagram)
He lost a legal battle against the Home Office over the security arrangements for him and his family while in the UK, after his level of protection changed when he stopped being a working royal.
After losing his appeal 15 months ago in May 2025, Harry stated there was little chance of the family coming back to the UK after his automatic taxpayer-funded police protection was taken away when he and Meghan quit their royal roles.
At that time, in an interview, he said: “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point.” Meanwhile, several months earlier, during an onstage chat at the New York Times Book Summit in December 2024, he also shut down speculation about a move to Britain when he was asked if he planned to remain in America for good. He said: “I do. I very much enjoy living here and bringing my kids up here.”
The Sussexes are beginning their new life in the the UK(Image: Getty Images)
Rumours have abounded as to where Harry and Meghan will choose to settle, with suggestions including rural locations in the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire, amid speculation over which schools they have chosen for their children, with it only marking the third time five-year-old Lilibet has been to the UK.
The couple are understood to have secured a home outside of London, which is a non-royal residence. Rumours have also swirled around Meghan’s plans to return to acting, with speculation she is in talks to star in the third series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix gangster series The Gentlemen.
