Six weeks after making their shock move from California to England’s bucolic Cotswolds, sources tell Page Six that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are in a “honeymoon” phase with their new life — despite not yet having seen King Charles.
Although Harry is believed to have had multiple phone calls with Charles, the father and son have yet to meet in person, we’re told, as Charles and Queen Camilla have been enjoying a break in Scotland.
The holiday included a stay at Balmoral Castle, where Harry’s estranged brother, Prince William, Princess Catherine, and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, joined them.
The King and Queen, who remain in Scotland but have been popping down to London for meetings, will also undertake a tour to the Caribbean on October 27, so it could be a while before they see the Sussexes.
That is not to say there isn’t still a good chance of Harry and his father reconciling.
“Absolutely, everyone hopes that father and son can have a closer — more private — relationship,” a royal insider said. “It just does not help when every time they meet or speak it leaks out.”
Another thing that hasn’t helped father-son relations is Charles Spencer’s new book about Diana, which is currently topping the book charts.
Royal sources told us that Spencer, Harry’s uncle, received a staggering £4 million for the book — “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.” In it, he claims that Charles hissed down the phone that Diana would soon be forgotten following her 1997 death. That allegation has not gone down well with the King, whose reps issued a stern denial of the allegations.
“The fact that Harry was just with his uncle in the summer makes it seem that he has a good relationship with him — and the King is furious about the book,” said another source.
As fall settles on the English countryside and the Sussex children — Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5 — settle into their new schools, many Brits are still baffled by just what made the Sussexes jet back to Harry’s homeland seemingly out of the blue.
But, we’re told that Harry, 42, and Markle, 45, had been mulling over a decision to return to the UK for the past few years. Indeed, this week Harry revealed how he “slipped into depression for two weeks” following ‘Megxit’ back in March 2020 and felt a “crash unlike anything I’d ever felt before”.
The Duke of Sussex, 42, said he became “useless” after he and his wife sensationally quit both royal life and the UK and fled to British Columbia.
“Being in Canada, away from the stressful environment where presumably my body was just pumped full of adrenaline, within two or three days, I experienced this adrenaline crash, something that I’d never experienced before,” he told neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor in his new grief Masterclass.
“It was as if I needed stress in order to get the adrenaline to make my brain function … I felt like I couldn’t function.”
The couple made the final decision to leave their Montetico mansion after their summer vacation, which included a reunion between Charles, 77 and his grandchildren — and a visit to Diana’s ancestral estate, Althorp. They had to move quickly to get their children in to school.
They’re thrilled to be back in Harry’s homeland and now plan to stay for at least the school year, which ends next summer, a source in-the-know told us.
This will give Harry time to work on a reported documentary marking the 30th anniversary of his beloved mother Princess Diana’s death and helm next year’s Invictus Games in Birmingham.
It also gives enough time for Harry to get his long-awaited wish for armed security from the British government, alongside crucial security briefing.
After that, the family could set up home even farther afield — potentially in Canada or even Australia, both places they have an affinity for. “They love traveling,” said a source in-the-know.
The Sussexes returned to live in the UK in late August after six years in North America. They have described the move as an “extended stay” with their children, while they plan to live as an “international family,” keeping their homes in California and Portugal.
Amid the likelihood of putting both Harry, Markle and the rest of the royal family back in the headlines with “crisis over Christmas”-style stories, the Sussexes don’t plan to join the monarch and Harry’s brother William for the traditional festivities at Sandringham, according to the source in-the-know.
Instead, they will either remain at the cottage where they are currently staying — on multi-millionaire financier Ian Wace’s estate in Northamptonshire — or return to California for the holidays. Either way, they will be joined by Markle’s mom, Doria Ragland.
“There is a hierarchy,” said a palace insider, “And the King is the CEO, he’s the boss — what he says go, so it’s better not to put themselves in any difficult position.”
Harry and Markle are planning on making their first official public outing together in the UK within days, we’re told, after being photographed holding hands on a lunch date at The Falkland Arms, a 16th-century pub in the Cotswolds village of Great Tew, Oxfordshire.
The pair were dressed casually, with Markle opting for gluten-free fish and chips and Harry choosing a chicken, ham, and leek pie.
And although the couple have not yet made an official appearance together, Markle was seen enjoying afternoon tea with campaigner Malala Yousafzai this past Wednesday in her first London outing since returning to Britain.
The Duchess, dressed in a $2,300 outfit, was seen having afternoon tea with the 29-year-old Pakistani activist at the five-star Claridge’s hotel in tony Mayfair.
“They do go way back,” said a source in the know, as the pair have previously bonded over their shared passion for female education.
Back in October 2020, Harry and Markle joined Malala — who became the youngest Nobel laureate ever when she was 17 — for a virtual conversation that celebrated the International Day of the Girl.
Since arriving in the UK, the Sussexes have also been pictured spending time with various other friends, including Ellen DeGeneres, 68, and Portia de Rossi, 53, their former neighbors in California, at another local pub in the Cotsworlds. They’ve also spent time with Markle’s BFF, Kelly McKee Zajfen, an entrepreneur and activist based in LA, who posted an Instagram carousel of her time visiting the couple in the UK.
The intimate images showed Markle holding her friend’s baby Jack in a pub, Harry cuddling him on a rug on the ground, and a trip to Soho Farmhouse.
In her caption, Zajfen wrote: “To everyone we’ve met or bumped into, thank you for being so loving to my friend. It’s been beautiful to witness. She missed you too!”
Markle, of course, still has work to do. She has recently launched “The Holiday Collection: Chapter One” for her lifestyle brand, As Ever, including a $148 luxury advent calendar created in collaboration with Los Angeles chocolatier Compartés, featuring handcrafted chocolates inspired by her Montecito home and garden.
There’s also a wicker basket filled with items including peppermint and lemon-and-ginger teas, a trio of fruit spreads, flower sprinkles, and two scented candles, complete with a leather As Ever tag, a chocolate holiday trio and playing cards.
But the prospect of the former “Suits” actress appearing on the third season of Netflix show, “The Gentleman” — a possibility first reported W— appears to be dead in the water.
“It was something that came to her,” said an industry source, “And it was something she looked at, but it was only ever a brief idea, and as always things escalated.
“But Meghan is always open to looking at things.”
