Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘Unlikely to Leave California’ for Three Key Reasons

The couple have lived in California for four years (Image: Kirsty Wigglesworth – Pool/Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have now lived in California for four years after quitting life as senior working members of the Royal Family in 2020.

While there has been some speculation that the couple may one day return to the UK, especially as Prince Harry’s ongoing US visa row continue after he wrote about his past drug in his memoir Spare last year, one expert believes they will remain in their Montecito mansion for a long time.

The couple reportedly brought the mansion in 2020, with the nine-bed home believed to have cost around £11 million, and have settled well into life in the neighbourhood with their two children Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3.

According to former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, the couple have now firmly set down roots in California, making any move back to Harry’s home country of the UK unlikely for three key reasons.

One of these is the fact that Prince Archie has already been enrolled in a local school in their neighbourhood, with another being the freedom they have in America compared to the UK.

Meghan also shares a close bond with her mum Doria, who currently lives close to the couple.

Discussing why the Sus𝑠e𝑥es are unlikely to leave America, Jennie Bond told OK! Magazine: “I don’t think they have any plans to move from California.

“They seem to love their life there…Sun, sea and freedom have a lot to offer. Meghan loves being close to her mother, who plays a big part in their lives.

“The children are settled and Harry has said he now regards the United States as home, and when he does come back to the UK he spends the shortest possible amount of time here before flying off again.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals in 2020 (Image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Prince Harry, 40, was last in the UK in September for the WellChild Awards 2024.

He attended the event without his wife Meghan, 43, who was believed to have stayed at home in America with the couple’s two children.

The duchess has not visited the UK with her husband since September 2022 when she attended the funeral of Harry’s grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth II.