When Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan, and their two children move back to Britain in the coming weeks, they may be on the receiving end of some serious skepticism, both from the British media and the public.

A lot remains unknown about Harry and Meghan’s return, six years after they left for the sunny skies of Southern California. But it is clear that many Britons are deeply divided about the couple after a roller coaster of royal family recriminations and revelations that have played out in the country’s press.

At London’s Barbican art center, that national debate was mirrored by cousins Makaila and Mica McKenzie, who were surprised to discover how strongly they disagreed with each other, while waiting to see an art exhibit.

Makaila McKenzie, an art teacher, argued that the royals were dealing with normal family problems that just happened to play out before a global audience.

“That happens to anybody,” she said. “But for them, it’s in the public, and everyone has an opinion.”

But Mica McKenzie said she felt that Harry and Meghan had abandoned Britain by going to America: “What they were doing was trying to work and trade off the royal family name. That was not right.”

During the couple’s absence from Britain, the public feud between them and the rest of the royal family kept on the boil. Harry wrote a tell-all memoir that deeply upset the family, and the couple gave an interview to Oprah, in which Meghan disclosed that she had asked for help with persistent suicidal thoughts during her pregnancy, after months of bullying from the press.

For years, Harry accused Buckingham Palace of preventing his family’s return to Britain by refusing to provide them with armed protection. To some people in Britain that came across as disloyal, said Grant Harrold, a former butler of King Charles III and an etiquette expert.

“It’s extraordinary the wave of anger that’s come toward them,” said Mr. Harrold. “A lot of people away on holidays are still taking to social media to voice the fact that they’re not happy about it.”

Mr. Harrold, who lives in southwest England and who is originally from Scotland, said that his posts about Harry and Meghan gain far more traction than anything else he publishes. “Whether they like it or not, they’re public figures,” he said.

Recent surveys suggest that the broader public views both of them negatively, especially in comparison to Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate, and generally sees the royal family in a positive light.

For some, however, the news of the couple’s return was met with a shrug. Graham Wallace, a retired journalist, called the nonstop news coverage “mass hysteria.”

Tash Bochenek, who lives in Suffolk, northeast of London, said she didn’t much care about the royals, whose vast wealth made them feel very removed from her life.

“Just crack on, live your best life,” she said, adding, “but don’t expect a hero’s welcome.”

Nonetheless, Ms. Bochenek, 54, said that she had been horrified by the treatment of Meghan by the British tabloids. In 2016, Harry attacked the “racial undertones” of British news coverage and the social media harassment of Meghan, his girlfriend at the time.

“Humans are humans,” Ms. Bochenek said. “Family is complicated. And they’re not exempt from that.”

Still, she remained skeptical that the British public would ever truly accept them. “They’re always going to be polarizing,” she said.

But Harry and Meghan’s return has also raised the prospect of continued reconciliation between Harry and his family, which had seemed distant in recent years, Mr. Harrold said. That could pave the way for more public acceptance, especially if they are seen interacting with the rest of the royal family.

“Look at Queen Camilla,” Mr. Harrold said. Camilla was long despised by the British public, dating back to the days of her role as Charles’s longtime girlfriend while he was married to Diana, Princess of Wales.

But now, 20 years later, people respect and accept her, he said. “That’s what time can do.”