Prince Harry Reveals The Devastating Reason Why He And Meghan Markle Fled The United Kingdom For The United States

Jun 27, 2024

Prince Harry and Meghan announced to the world on January 8, 2020, that they would step down as senior working members of the British royal family in a move popularly dubbed “Megxit.” By spring of 2020, the transition was complete, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were no longer performing royal duties. 

Since then, they have lived in the United States with Meghan’s mother and their two children. Although Harry and Meghan stepped down from their duties as senior royals, they have not shunned the spotlight, appearing at public charity events and pursuing their own creative and philanthropic ventures, many under their brand, Archewell Foundation.

However, tensions between their small family and the royals have grown and created a wall between them. Scrutiny of Harry and Meghan has intensified, and people have started expressing their disdain for every move and decision they make, especially toward their children’s — Archie and Lilibet — lives.

With reports that Harry, Meghan, and the children are returning to the United Kingdom for the upcoming 2024 Invictus Games, chatter on the Sussexes’ departure has reemerged. This was further exacerbated by the budding anticipation of whether the Sussexes would meet the cancer-stricken King Charles and Kate Middleton during their visit to the United Kingdom. 

Royal expert Tom Quinn claimed in an interview that Prince Harry’s “last straw” in leaving the United Kingdom for the United States was connected to the fact that he was evicted from Frogmore Cottage in 2023. 

In Harry’s controversial memoir, “Spare,” he revealed one of the heartbreaking reasons why they left the United Kingdom in exchange for a peaceful life in Montecito, California. Keep reading to learn more about it. 

On April 9, 2024, a royal insider revealed to Page Six that there had been talk of King Charles possibly extending an olive branch to Prince Harry and Meghan so that he could reunite with his grandchildren. 

“I can see Charles desperately wanting to see the children, and extending this olive branch to Meghan and Harry. He may decide that life is just too short,” the insider claimed to the outlet. “Balmoral is truly the perfect, restful place for a reunion. If he does issue an invite, then Harry and Meghan should surely agree to the visit.”

While Charles had seen Archie on many occasions before the Sussexes migrated to the United States, the outlet noted that he'd only met Lilibet in person once, in June 2022, during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth. At the time, the insider revealed that Charles spent time with his grandchildren during that visit, describing the encounter as “fantastic” and “very emotional.” 

“It was a fantastic visit, and, of course, the king was delighted to see his grandson and meet his granddaughter for the first time,” the source confirmed.

Meghan last set foot in the United Kingdom in 2022 when she attended the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Archie and Lilibet, however, were left in California and taken care of by Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland. 

Meghan was absent from Charles’ coronation in May 2023 because it coincided with Archie’s birthday. Harry, who attended, immediately left after the ceremony to head back to California. 

Should the reunion happen, it would be a positive moment for the British royal family, considering their recent unfortunate ordeals.

On April 18, 2024, The Mirror reported that Prince Harry officially changed his residence from the United Kingdom to the United States. The publication noted that Harry filed paperwork in Britain to change his official residence to the United States. 

Notably, it was a retroactive change. A document obtained by the publication shows that Harry’s new country of residence is the United States, effective retroactively to June 29, 2023. 

For those who do not know, it was on the same date that Harry and his family were reportedly evicted from Frogmore Cottage by King Charles in 2023. A spokesperson for the Sussexes confirmed this, saying that “the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage."

Quinn claimed to The Mirror that the address change had been done way before the news came out in 2024, contrary to recent reports. He claims that Harry changed it on the very day his family was evicted from Frogmore. Quinn also revealed it was Harry's “last straw” before he decided to leave the United Kingdom. 

"At the time, few people realised what a slap in the face the eviction from Frogmore felt like for Harry – it was the last straw,” he said. 

The royal expert also claimed that Harry was "absolutely furious and in tears about being evicted from Frogmore.” Harry felt that his father "had no right" to evict him and his wife from the residence that the late Queen Elizabeth II had gifted them for their wedding. Harry also reportedly saw the action as “purely vindictive.” 

"Harry took it as a cruel rejection – a painful reminder of all that he felt when his father fought with his mother during their long drawn out, painful divorce," Quinn added. 

Yahoo News! reported that King Charles offered Frogmore Cottage to his disgraced brother, Prince Andrew. 

“Harry and Meghan have until early summer (2023) to vacate,” a source close to the Sussexes revealed to the outlet at the time. “Initially, they were given just weeks, but now they have at least until after (King Charles') coronation.” 

However, Prince Andrew didn't want to move from the Royal Lodge to Frogmore. “He has until autumn (2023) to leave but is resisting,” the source added. It's reported that Charles was aiming to streamline the properties that royals live in as part of his projects as the king. 

Apparently, the move to evict the Sussexes stemmed from King Charles’ fury after the revelations that Harry had written in his very controversial memoir, “Spare.” Despite this, Harry was invited back during his father’s coronation ceremony, although he left immediately after the ceremony and skipped the private gathering afterward. 

A Daily Mail source close to the British royal family claimed that while members of the family “breathed a sigh of relief” that Harry didn’t join them, his father seemed “genuinely quite disappointed” that he didn’t stay. Harry flew immediately back to California to celebrate Prince Archie’s birthday, which coincided with the King’s coronation ceremony.
In November 2023, royal expert Omid Scobie claimed in “Endgame,” a distraught Harry called the king. He gave him a seven-word response after learning of their eviction. 

“Don’t you want to see your grandchildren?” he asked his father. As Scobie described the tense call, Charles' silence was followed by a “half-hearted declaration that they would always have 'somewhere' to stay,” which did not give his youngest son “much hope.”

The royal author added the residence was the Sussexes "only true safe option when visiting the United Kingdom," as armed guards surrounded its grounds. He even described King Charles’ decision to evict them as “a cheap shot from a wounded father bound by an institutional system that is often intolerant of human emotion.”

Throughout the years, there have been various reasons for the Sussexes to leave the United Kingdom. Among these was the strife that allegedly took place between Harry and William and Kate and Meghan when they lived closely together and attended similar engagements. 

In the BBC documentary “The Princess and the Press,” royal experts Jonny Dymond and Camilla Tominey spoke to Amol Rajan about the situation in the palace following Prince Harry and Meghan's marriage. 

"As a reporter, when did you first get the sense that things weren't quite as happy as they were in the wedding day?" Rajan asked Dymond, who confirmed that they already knew it “within days.”

“There were stories coming out about how Megan behaved towards staff,” Dymond revealed, prompting Tominey to add, "We were getting briefings that all was not well, with the relationship between William and Harry, Meghan and Kate and the relationship between Harry and Meghan and the royal household."

Moreover, Meghan’s interview with The Cut illuminated that unfair reportage of the renovations in their residences contributed to her mental health decline. As a result, they’ve asked the Palace if they could relocate to another Commonwealth country in hopes of that “all the noise would stop.” 

“Anything to just … because just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy. So we go, ‘Okay, fine, let’s get out of here. Happy to,'” Meghan added. “That, for whatever reason, is not something that we were allowed to do, even though several other members of the family do that exact thing.”

Apart from the abusive press coverage that was disguised under “public interest,” there had been loud conversations and chatter emerging that points to Meghan’s alleged bullying toward staff members and palace aids. 

In 2022, author Valentine Low released the book “Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crow” and claimed that Meghan screamed at ex-staff members and verbally attacked them on several occasions.

“There were a lot of broken people. Young women were broken by their behaviour,” a former aid shared with Low. “Every 10 minutes, I had to go outside to be screamed at by her and Harry.” 

Harry touched on the bullying allegations in his equally controversial memoir, “Spare.” He claimed that “rivalry, jealousy, and competing agendas” “poisoned the atmosphere.”

In Harry’s memoir, he also explained that one of the reasons he and Meghan left the United Kingdom was for their own safety. 

Recalling the time he went back to the United Kingdom for Prince Philip’s funeral, Harry couldn’t help but reflect on what was supposed to be his “forever home” – Frogmore Cottage. 

“How beautiful it all is, I thought. And also how sad,” Harry wrote in the book. “Once upon a time, this was going to be my forever home. Instead it had proved to be just another brief stop. When my wife and I fled this place, in fear for our sanity and physical safety, I wasn't sure when I'd ever come back. That was January 2020.” 

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams claimed to The Sun that Harry misses life in the United Kingdom, especially being involved in the military.

“The military has been a very important part of his life, and I would have thought it only natural that he would have had a feeling of some regret [not being at Trooping the Colour],” Fitzwilliam alleged. 

What can you say about Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave the United Kingdom? Do you think they will ever consider going back to the United States? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other Royal Family fans out there!