According to a new book, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle thought about stepping away from UK royal duties for one year, but this plan became impossible due to two significant issues. Harry, 38, and Markle, 40, reportedly and initially considered taking a year off (like Harry’s late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II memorably did in Malta), as written in Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, the new work by Valentine Low, British journalist and royal correspondent for The Times.
In the new book, Low says that Sir David Manning— the former ambassador to the US and Prince William and Harry’s foreign affairs advisor for 10 years— had been brainstorming future proposals for the couple. Manning apparently believed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should’ve had time to pursue their personal philanthropic interests.
He also supposedly thought about Harry’s passion for work in Africa and environmental conservation, and the possibility of the prince pursuing this. In addition, this, Manning reportedly thought, would’ve also given Markle time to spend in the US, and away from the public eye. “Manning also looked to other royal couples and how they spent their time before royal life completely took over,” as reported by The Mirror.
As Low writes in his new book, looking to fellow royal duos and their time off from work inspired Manning, “Soon after the Queen and Prince Philip married, they’d lived in Malta, while William and Kate started married life in Anglesey.” He continued, noting that Manning reportedly thought, “Harry and Meghan could also go away for a while, said Manning. A year in South Africa seemed the obvious choice. A paper was written outlining the options, and the couple were said to like the idea of a year in Africa.”
When it came down to it, Low notes that Manning dubbed “money and security” as “probably the two big problems that scuppered” this plan. “‘It ran into the sand,’ said Manning,” Low adds, “‘The problems were real, and there was not a willingness to find the resources.'”
In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in the spring of 2021, the Sussexes did mention this plan. Markle and Harry explained that their idea was to represent the Queen as non-senior royals while also relocating to a Commonwealth country, as viewers may recall.
“We were saying ‘okay, if this isn’t working for everyone, we’re in a lot of pain, you can’t provide us with the help we need, we can just take a step back. We can do it in a Commonwealth country,” Markle said at the time, “We suggested New Zealand, South Africa[…]”
Harry then added that the move would have given the two time to “take a breath,” and that his wife also suggested Canada as a possible option. The couple did spend a brief period of time in Canada together before they permanently relocated to their current home in Montecito, California. Markle and Harry still live in the town with their two children— son Archie Harrison, 3, and daughter Lilibet Diana, 1— as Markle opened up about their life at home in her cover story with The Cut back in August.
