Prince Harry is thought to be focused on securing a home in the UK as he looks to have a ‘permanent’ base in his home country, according to a royal expert.
The Duke of Sussex stepped back from royal life and the royal family in 2020 and has been an official resident of the US alongside his wife Meghan Markle since leaving the UK. However, it seems he’s still keen to have a base in the UK, especially as he no longer has a formal royal residence to return to when he visits the UK since being evicted from Frogmore Cottage last year.
Royal author and expert Tom Quinn exclusively told the Mirror: “As time goes by, Harry misses some aspects of his old life in the UK. Inevitably, the honeymoon period where everything in the States is new and exciting is coming to an end and Harry is looking back at the past through rose-tinted spectacles.”
He added: “He misses his Old Etonian and army friends, many of whom have not visited as they don’t get on with Meghan. Harry is determined to find his own permanent home in the UK, which is partly why he’s continuing his legal action to get the British taxpayer to pay for his security.”
The claims come after Harry revealed in his 2023 autobiography ‘Spare’ about his sadness at having to leave Frogmore Cottage, his former royal residence at Windsor Castle. The couple were gifted Frogmore Cottage in 2019 by Queen Elizabeth II, and paid for an extensive renovation independently after initially using taxpayers’ money and then repaying it. However, their time in the five-bedroom house was short-lived as by the end of 2019 they had announced their decision to leave the royal family and vacated in 2020.
Writing in his memoir ‘Spare’, Harry reflected upon a meeting with Charles and William that he’d asked for after his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral. Whilst waiting for the others to arrive at Frogmore Cottage, Harry was left saddened as he realised the cottage that was going to be his ‘forever home’ wasn’t. He wrote: “Once upon a time, this was going to be my forever home. Instead it had proved to be just another brief stop.”
Prince Harry’s hopes for a UK home also come as he continues his legal battle against the UK Home Office as he launches an appeal against a High Court ruling dismissing his challenge over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK by a Court of Appeal judge. Harry first began the action after the Home Office, the ministry responsible for policing, in February 2020 cut off his right to automatic personal police security while in the UK.
