With his California home, Hollywood pals and multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, Prince Harry now seems worlds away from his previous royal life.
It was more than four years ago that Harry and wife Meghan sent shockwaves through the monarchy when they dramatically announced they were stepping back from their royal roles. The sensational announcement appeared to come out of the blue – but early last year, Harry’s long-held frustration at royal life was laid bare in his controversial memoir Spare. But he publicly hinted all might not have been well with his royal role three years before Megxit and well before his book was published.
In an interview seven years ago in 2017, the Duke of Sussex admitted he had once “wanted out” of the Firm and just desired an “ordinary life”. In a chat, later reported in the Mail On Sunday, Harry, then 32, told of his struggles but said he ultimately decided to stick it out thanks to one relative. He reportedly said: “I spent many years kicking my heels and I didn’t want to grow up,’ he admitted. “I felt I wanted out but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself,” he added, revealing he was motivated by his loyalty to his late grandmother the Queen.
In the same interview, just a year after he met Meghan, Harry also told of his future wishes for him and his children. He insisted: “I am determined to have a relatively normal life and if I am lucky enough to have children they can have one too.” Last week, reports suggested that Harry, who has a rocky bond with his father, turned down an offer from the King to stay in a royal residence on his recent visit to the UK earlier this month. It is said the offer was knocked back because it did not come with any security provision and he would be in a “visible location with public entrance and exit points and no police protection”.
During the case, the High Court was told that Harry believes his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot “feel at home” in the UK if it is “not possible to keep them safe”. Since moving to the US, Archie and Lilibet have only been to the UK once, with Charles only having one face-to-face meeting with his youngest granddaughter.
And according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the security issue looks to be the barrier when it comes to a royal reunion. She told the Mirror: “Harry and Meghan’s security fears could well be a stumbling block to any kind of reunion with the Royal Family. But no doubt they have been invited to Balmoral this summer.
“As the late Queen discovered, Scotland offers the only quality time a monarch has to devote to family. It would be very sad if Charles was denied the pleasure of seeing his grandchildren just because of Harry’s unfounded security woes.”
