Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to return to the UK after more than six years away, but one royal expert believes the Duchess of Sussex will struggle with a particular aspect of the move.
The former royal couple are expected back in Britain later this month with their children, Archie and Lilibet, enrolled in British schools for the next academic year, which starts in September.
Weather concerns for Meghan
According to royal biographer Andrew Lownie, there is one element that Meghan may not have taken into consideration – the great British weather. While the nation has enjoyed heatwave after heatwave in the last three months, that is likely to change as winter approaches.
Andrew told The Daily T podcast: "I can't see Meghan enjoying a Cotswolds winter with the rain coming down, and her mother a long way away. So I just can't see this working."
There has been intense chatter about where Harry and Meghan are going to live when they return. As private citizens outside the Royal Family, this is unlikely to be disclosed. It is expected that they will live in a private estate outside of London, with two locations featuring prominently: Northamptonshire, near the family estate of Harry's late mother, Princess Diana, and the Cotswolds, which is already filled with celebrities and the uber-rich.
Relationship dynamic shift
During the podcast, Lownie also talked about what Harry and Meghan's seemingly sudden decision to ditch their life Stateside to return to the UK says about the shifting dynamic in their relationship. It was so sudden that it was apparently a surprise to Harry's father, King Charles.
He said: "I think it's a really interesting dynamic because we've always thought that Harry was under the thumb of Meghan, and that there wasn't much give or take there. And now there seems to be an understanding that he wants to have children with a British education, he wants to come back to his friends, I think he's felt very isolated in California."
Property expert weighs in
Meanwhile, a property expert said the family's new home may not be the grandest for one important reason. Cal Graham, of We Buy Any Home, believes this will be the case if privacy and safety are their biggest concerns. To avoid people discovering their location, Cal says a "shielded" property would be the best option, which doesn't necessarily mean a glamorous one.
Cal told us: "If the reports are correct, the most suitable property would probably be one that looks relatively unremarkable from the public road but offers considerable privacy once inside. A modern home on a privately managed estate, set well back from the road and shielded by mature landscaping, would attract far less attention than an instantly recognisable country mansion."
The author has written a number of books about the Royal Family, including most recently Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, about the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal.
