On the latest episode of Palace Confidential, Richard Eden and Sarah Vine share their anxieties over Harry and Meghan's shock return to Britain.

This week, it emerged the Sussexes would be imminently moving back to the UK, with their children, Archie and Lilibet, already enrolled in schools for the start of term in September.

King Charles was said to have been blindsided by the news, learning of his son's intentions only on Sunday, despite hosting the Sussexes at Highgrove just last month. While it is understood there will be no change to the couple's status as non-working royals, the panel fear their return will inevitably muddy the waters.

Diary Editor Eden argued the King should issue an ultimatum to the returning couple: either apologise for their years of public criticism of the family and give up their money-making ventures, or be stripped of their titles.

He said Charles must 'put his foot down', warning that otherwise the couple risk establishing a rival court that undermines William and Catherine, with 'the future of the monarchy' at stake.

Eden warned: 'The King needs to say to Harry and Meghan, if you want to rejoin the Royal family as working royals, you give up your money making and you apologise publicly to the members of the Royal family you have insulted. Then you can come back.

'Or, he needs to strip them of their royal titles. You're no longer Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Your children are not prince and princess. You're back in Britain as private individuals and everyone knows that.

'He has to be firm, or the future of the monarchy is at stake.'

That, she argued, makes the move more dangerous for the monarchy, describing Harry as a 'disruptor' who will always look to wrong-foot the Crown.

'The King is in a difficult position', Vine began.

'He's not a terribly well man and you know, we all wish him a long and healthy life. But, if the worst should happen and Harry and Meghan were still in America, I think it would have been much harder for them to return.

'Potentially, you could have seen the Prince of Wales stripping them of their titles and going quite hard on them.

'I think part of the reason Harry wants to come back is because he wants to stake his claim. He doesn't want to be on the outside when the leadership changes. I think that's quite a cynical move.

'People will think they are working royals, and the credit will go to them - not to the Royal family. That's what I mean about an alternative court. It feels like a land grab.

'There's going to be the problems that we've seen before, where Harry might go off and do a charity thing that clashes with a big engagement in the King's diary.

'The court circular - the thing about that is it's all very carefully planned and engineered. You can't really have people freelancing on that or going rogue.

'But, that is how Harry operates. This announcement blindsided his own father. He likes to pull the rug out from under people's feet.

'He styles himself as a disruptor. He likes that about himself. That's his thing - a master of surprise.'

Watch Eden and Vine's full reaction to the news, including speculation over which part of the UK the Sussexes might choose to call home, by subscribing to Palace Confidential on YouTube.