A royal expert has said that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle planned their exit from the UK far earlier than we thought. With last week's news that the couple are making their UK comeback, the circumstances surrounding their shock move in 2020 have been re-examined.
Prince Harry and Meghan revealed they were stepping back from their royal roles and would split their time between the UK and the US to "work to become financially independent".
Talks began months after wedding
While it appeared that the couple's decision had been rushed, they had in fact been planning it for a long time, according to Diana, Princess of Wales' biographer, Andrew Morton. In 2022, the author spoke to The Mirror's podcast, Pod Save the King, about how early Harry and Meghan had started to think about leaving The Firm and claims that talks began just six months after their wedding.
Morton told the podcast: "Harry was having conversations in a London hotel with Oprah Winfrey back in November 2018, just six months after they'd been married. So they were thinking about a different direction of travel pretty early on.
"The irony is, they had been given the keys to the first class lounge when Prince Harry was given the position of Youth Ambassador to the Commonwealth. This was effectively the Queen's way of saying 'you do the rest of the world, leave William and Catherine to do the UK where they will eventually be the Heads of State.'"
Stepping back in 2020
The couple announced that they were stepping back from the Royal Family in January 2020. Their statement said that after "many months of reflection and internal discussions", they could be "carving out a progressive new role within this institution".
It said the Sussexes wanted to become financially independent while still supporting Queen Elizabeth, splitting time between the UK and America. The couple said this would enable them to raise their son with an appreciation for the royal tradition he was born into, while also "providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter".
Plans for New Zealand and royal understanding
Elsewhere in the interview with Pod Save the King, Andrew Morton revealed that Prince Harry saw his marriage to Meghan as his way out of the Royal Family and that Queen Elizabeth would have been understanding if they'd just taken a few years to think about their future roles.
Morton said: "They were thinking about living in New Zealand and they even spoke to the Prime Minister of New Zealand about this - so they had all kinds of plots and thoughts for their future.
"It didn't work out because when it actually comes down to it, Prince Harry is cursed with charisma but hates being a prince and I think that he saw Meghan as a way out. They didn't have to leave the Royal Family in the way that they did, but they did."
The author continued: "Back in the late 1940's after they married, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip lived in Malta for a while as he was pursuing his career in the Royal Navy and many thought he would end up as First Lord of the Admiralty as he was such a star.
"They never thought for a minute that George VI would die so soon and thought that they would have 20 years or so on the fringes of the Royal Family.
"So The Queen had always been very understanding of anybody who wants to step back for a few years and just enjoy family life because you're a long time being a royal."
