Prince Harry may be living a picture-perfect life on the outside, settled in a lavish $14 million Italian-style estate in California with Meghan Markle and their two children, but according to sources close to him, the reality is far different from what it appears.
Behind the manicured lawns and high-security gates, Harry is reportedly feeling “desperately lonely,” increasingly cut off from the close-knit circle of friends and family he once leaned on in the UK. As reported by NewsNation, the Duke of Sussex is struggling to find a sense of belonging in his new home across the Atlantic.
“He doesn’t really have any real friends in the area except for polo star Nacho Figueras, and Nacho travels constantly for matches,” a friend told the outlet. “He spends a lot of his time chilling with his bodyguards.” Though there’s still some contact with old friends like Guy Pelly and Mark Dyer, who both played significant roles in his past, due to distance and time zones, regular touch gets impossible.
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Quinn pointed out the challenges of a lavish yet skill-less lifestyle: “Harry has no practical skills.. so after taking the dog for a walk in the… pic.twitter.com/UaMKdeD4MH
— Lou-bug Windsor 🦖 (@LoubugWindsor) July 3, 2024
“There’s no one else for him to hang out with besides Nacho, Meghan, and the children,” the source added, painting a picture of a man surrounded by family but starved of outside connection.
Since Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020, the couple’s life has shifted very much on all aspects. And according to insiders, that transition has had a big impact on Harry’s social world. “It’s hard to forge deep friendships when you’re older especially when you’re wary of people leaking things to the press,” one insider pointed out, which signifies the lingering distrust that comes with being a public figure trying to live a private life.
A friend even drew a historical parallel between Harry and his great-great-uncle Edward VIII, who gave up the throne to marry Wallis Simpson and lived out the rest of his life in exile. “It’s like history is repeating itself,” the friend said.
But while Edward and Wallis retreated into quiet obscurity, Harry and Meghan have been very active in the public eye, through tell-all books, high-profile Netflix productions, and various public engagements. Still, it seems the weight of past wounds continues to cast a long shadow.
In Spare, Prince Harry said he spent a year not going out socially due to anxiety, he then meets Meg and is forced to stay in due to avoiding paps, then Covid, then press and social media harassment. So this era of being outside and living his best life is extra sweet! pic.twitter.com/8WDLYkRHqr
— Ariel The Mermaid (@sa_squaddie) March 1, 2024
“Meghan wishes her husband could feel less burdened by the past and more present in the life they’ve built together,” a source shared with People magazine.
There’s also frustration brewing over ongoing delays in securing British passports for their children, Archie and Lilibet. The issue has reportedly left Harry considering symbolic alternatives, at one point even seeking counsel from his uncle, Earl Spencer, about possibly adopting the late Princess Diana’s surname. Although the Sussexes didn’t ultimately go with ‘Spencer,’ they’ve quietly stopped using ‘Mountbatten-Windsor’ and are said to now use ‘Sussex’ as the family name instead.
What’s clear is that despite his efforts to start fresh in the U.S., Harry still seems to be grappling with ghosts of the past, lost connections, and the emotional toll of life far removed from the world he once knew.
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