After stepping down from their royal duties, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to Montecito, California, likely for the long term. They appear to be living the life they’ve always dreamed of, but one criticism they’ve faced from the public is that they have remained in the spotlight, despite initially stating they wanted a more private life.

Today, the couple continues to be very much in the public eye.

Many British monarchy supporters believe Harry’s actions are contradictory, as he distanced himself from his family to shield his wife from media scrutiny, only to later reveal their lives to the media in ways “no other royal has before.”

In their Netflix documentary, Harry and Meghan shared that they were introduced by a mutual friend after he saw her in a video shared by one of his friends and couldn’t resist asking, “who she was.”

Despite Harry being content with his wife and two children, he still feels a sense of longing for his homeland and his friends in Britain, who, according to royal author Tom Quinn, reportedly avoid visiting him due to Meghan.

In an interview with Mirror, Quinn shared, “As time goes by, Harry misses some aspects of his old life in the UK. 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.”

He went on to say, “He misses his Old Etonian and army friends, many of whom have not visited as they don’t get on with Meghan. Harry is determined to find his own permanent home in the UK, which is partly why he’s continuing his legal action to get the British taxpayer to pay for his security.”

Predictions from Hugo Vickers, author of Prince Edward’s 2022 memoir A Royal Life, suggest that Harry may eventually return to the UK permanently without Meghan, even though he is “petrified” of losing her. “I think he’ll come home,” Vickers shared with The Sun. “I think he’ll come home, and if he comes home, we must be very nice to him because he won’t particularly want to. He’s quite angry, I think.”

Should this occur, Vickers believes that King Charles would welcome him back with open arms and allow him to resume his role as a working royal.

“The king has left the door wide open for him to do that, and he was doing such a good job before, and … he looked so happy,” the royal expert added. “Usually, you’re happy when you’re doing your duty and you’re doing it for other people and you’re putting things into life.”

Vickers further remarked, “If you’re taking things out of life, at the risk of getting a lot of hate mail, I personally think that he looks like he’s petrified of losing her [Meghan] and looks slightly petrified of her.”