It’s been five years since Prince Harry quit life in the UK – and the Royal Family – and set up home in California. But it’s now being reported that he has his eye on making his return
Prince Harry has been criticised after penning an essay on what it means to be British – five years after he quit the UK and walked away from both his family and royal duties.
The Duke of Sussex wrote a 647-word piece – which is titled ‘The Bond, The Banter, The Bravery: What it means to be British – By Prince Harry ‘ – to express his pride in the “stoic spirit” and self-deprecating humour of “us Brits” ahead of Remembrance Day. He fondly recalls how the “banter of the mess, the clubhouse, the pub, the stands” are the very “things that make us British”, adding, “I love it.”
But Harry – who has said he will not bring his family back to Britain over safety concerns – has raised eyebrows with the tribute to his homeland he so publicly left behind. Now a behavioural expert has suggested that the essay might in fact hint at Harry’s desire to return to the UK – which echoes claims made by one of Harry’s old friends.
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Reflecting on Harry’s Remembrance tribute, Judi James drew attention to one paragraph in particular written by Harry, which reads: “Though currently, I may live in the United States, Britain is, and always will be, the country I proudly served and fought for. The banter of the mess, the clubhouse, the pub, the stands ridiculous as it sounds, these are the things that make us British. I make no apology for it. I love it.”
She told the Mirror: “‘Though currently, I may live in the United States,’ is the fascinating line though, both for its wording and its use of punctuation. ‘Though I now live in the United States’ would be a statement of non-negotiable fact. But Harry adds ‘currently’ and ‘may’ to make it sound less fixed and solid. The use of the word ‘currently’ sounds negotiable, appearing to hint at a return to the UK. It’s a word that leaves things open, like: ‘I’m currently single’ would imply a desire to get married or ‘I’m currently unemployed’ would suggest someone is searching for work.”
Judi continued: “It sounds like a teaser in terms of a return to the UK… Harry’s choice of wording hints that he’s not only possibly homesick but that a return of some sort might be on the horizon.”
Her suggestion comes two months after one of the Duke’s pals spoke about Harry’s “long” WhatsApp messages which seem to indicate he is keen to come back. “Spike (his nickname among his old school friends) is seriously homesick. He’s started reaching out to us more and more,” they told the Standard.
“It started with very long and earnest WhatsApps. We actually all made a decision when we started getting them not to take the p*ss out of them. Something we couldn’t have imagined doing a few years before. Anyway, gradually, he seems to be sounding more normal. Whenever anyone goes to America they try to see him. It never seems to be with Meghan though. We think he is beginning to pine for home,” the pal explained.
Harry has made no secret of his desire to reunite with his family – but critics argue whether there is any way back for the Duke, who has so publicly hit out at his family on a number of occasions. On Monday, he was accused of trying to upstage his older brother Prince William by announcing a pseudo-royal trip of his own to Vancouver, minutes after the future King completed his first engagement in Brazil on his own tour.
Furthermore, a key area of concern for the royals is said to be trust. Harry has been accused of betraying his family by sharing many of their confidences, with fears that whatever Harry is told, ends up in the press. In September, the King agreed to see Harry for the first time in more than a year. Their meeting lasted 55 minutes, although experts suggested the King would have remained tight-lipped given Harry’s habit of telling all to the press.
Indeed, days later, he raised eyebrows when he sat for an interview with The Guardian, which has been critical of the monarchy and, in a 2000 editorial, even advocated for its abolishment. And once again, he made some extraordinary statements relating to his family drama, including his insistence that his “conscience is clear” following his revealing memoir Spare, and asserting that he did not air his “dirty linen in public”.
He said: “I know that [speaking out] annoys some people and it goes against the narrative. The book? It was a series of corrections to stories already out there. One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected,” he claimed. Harry has previously said his family is unable to visit the UK because of concerns over their safety. In May 2025, he gave another interview in which he said he was “devastated” at losing a legal challenge over his security in the UK.
Harry also told the BBC that the King “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff”, but said he did not want to fight any more and did “not know how much longer my father has”. Speaking after the court ruling, the Duke stated: “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”
He added that the decision to remove his automatic security entitlement after he decided to quit royal life impacts him “every single day”, and has left him in a position where he can only safely return to the UK if invited by the Royal Family since he would get sufficient security in those circumstances.
