Prince Harry Reportedly Struggling To Maintain Friendships Over Drama With Meghan Markle

Is Haz having second thoughts? Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, sacrificed his royal honors and his relationship with his family when he chose to live as a private citizen in America with wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. As a result their children, Archie and Lilibet, will probably never attend the royal events that Harry enjoyed when he was growing up. Now, a royal expert is claiming the prince is getting homesick and regretting the seemingly impetuous move. "As time goes by, Harry misses some aspects of his old life in the U.K.," Tom Quinn shared in an interview with The Mirror. "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."

One thing the Duke of Sussex misses in particular, according to Quinn, is socializing with friends from his college and Army days. Many of the lads "have not visited as they don't get on with Meghan," the royal author claimed. Though Quinn didn't elaborate on any specific conflicts, it's possible that Harry's pals' opinions echo those of many critics both in and outside the royal family. Meghan Markle tried her best to transform herself into a model of royal perfection, but her too-casual American mannerisms, outspokenness about her personal struggles, and her reported sense of entitlement left palace loyalists cold. 

In fact, in Tom Quinn's book, "Gilded Youth An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family," he quoted insiders who claimed that Meghan Markle resented being lower in status than future queen consort Catherine, Princess of Wales. But regardless, Prince Harry may be looking to overcome all the drama for the sake of re-establishing himself in his beloved homeland. The Duke of Sussex's visits to the U.K. since Megxit have been brief and awkward. Naturally, Harry's rift with his father, King Charles III, and brother William, Prince of Wales, have a lot to do with that, but ongoing lodging issues don't help. 

After sensationally leaving The Firm in 2020 and becoming non-working royals, he and Meghan were ordered to vacate Frogmore Cottage, the estate gifted to them by Queen Elizabeth II, though the couple was allowed to stay there when they came to London for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Reportedly, Charles plans to have Prince Andrew move into Frogmore, which is a bit of a hand-smacking for Harry. 

And yet, as royal expert Tom Quinn explained to The Mirror, this may not deter the prince from any plans to reconnect with his homeland. "[Prince] Harry is determined to find his own permanent home in the U.K., which is partly why he's continuing his legal action to get the British taxpayer to pay for his security," the author opined. His wife, meanwhile, is reportedly on board with the idea. "Meghan [Markle] will never return to the U.K. and stay with her husband's relatives," the royal expert pointed out in a separate Mirror interview, so this idea will actually suit her better.

If the Sussexes prevail in their fight to have government-level security protection despite defecting from the royal family, we could see much more of them on that side of the pond — especially once the couple buys a house. This, in turn, would allow Harry more time not only to get together with his British chums, but also to work towards the family reconciliation his fans have been hoping to see for years.