THEY have only been seen together in public four times in the past eight months and have been dogged by claims their marriage is on the rocks.
And now it seems while Prince Harry works on more solo projects and frets about his children’s safety, Meghan wants to move back into public life — with Archie, four, and Lilibet, two, by her side.
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An insider said the couple have different ideas on parenting, and that Harry has been very affected by his public upbringing.
Archie and Lilibet are rarely seen beyond the family’s £11million Montecito mansion.
But while Harry, 38, has an obsession with security and privacy, Meghan wants to raise them openly in California.
And she has not been overly impressed by Harry’s recent focus on three high-profile High Court cases in London against the media — including a phone-hacking claim against The Sun which was thrown out by the judge last month.
Although she supports him, she has not delivered the ultimate show of solidarity by accompanying him to court.
And while Harry has jetted off on a five-day trip to Japan and Singapore to play in a polo tournament for his Sentebale charity with his Argentine pal Ignacio Figueras, Meghan was spotted at pop star Taylor Swift’s concert in LA with her friend Lucy Fraser.
In fact, the rarity of the couple’s joint appearances in public — just four times since the publication of Harry’s controversial book Spare in January — has fuelled rumours in the US that they are struggling.
An insider said: “They disagree sometimes on certain approaches.
“Meghan would love to be done with all the legal stuff. But she’s still supportive of him as she knows how important it is to him.
“But she is ready to move on. They have a beautiful life in California and new friends. Montecito is paradise. Harry is very outdoorsy, he loves it there.”
Rarely seen out in Montecito, Meghan recently visited a local flower market and the couple marked her 42nd birthday this month with a restaurant visit.
And she will join Harry next month in Dusseldorf, Germany, to support his project, the Invictus Games.
Yet although she has signed up with LA talent agency William Morris Endeavour, they “go to see her” rather than Meghan making the six-hour round trip.
The couple’s self-imposed isolation is behind the heavily guarded walls of their nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom home with chicken coop and tennis court.
‘Move on’
A source said of Harry: “There is a difference in how he has grown up. He fears for his own children because of what he has gone through.”
Harry has claimed he took his family to the US to “break the cycle of pain” and feared seeing history repeating itself, claiming Meghan could end up like his mother Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997.
The couple also accused the Royal Family and the household of failing to support Meghan during her bout of suicidal thoughts after Archie’s birth in 2019.
And while Harry’s projects are clearly defined — including the Invictus Games, eco-travel firm Travalyst and his job at mental health agency BetterUp — Meghan appears to be jobless since losing her £15million Spotify deal.
The Sun on Sunday exclusively revealed the couple have bagged the film rights to romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake, by Carley Fortune, which they will produce for Netflix when the Hollywood scriptwriters’ strike is over.
And Meghan is said to have several projects for her new Hollywood talent agency for the end of 2023 and beginning of next year.
Without a UK home after they were evicted from Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate this year, and with no more commitments this side of the Atlantic, the couple are planning to put aside criticism and focus on California.
But sympathy Stateside has dwindled since Harry blasted their apparent treatment in his book and their tell-all Netflix show Harry & Meghan.
And satirical TV cartoon South Park’s Worldwide Privacy Tour episode about the couple in February caused increasing damage to their standing — as well as ridicule — among regular Americans.
Spotify chief Bill Simmons even called the pair “f***ing grifters” and talent agency boss Jeremy Zimmer said Meg was “not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent”.
Burning bridges
Meanwhile, the Royal Family are slowly burning all of Harry and Meghan’s bridges.
Last week we revealed no one has contacted the couple ahead of their Invictus Games trip — which falls just 24 hours after the first anniversary of the death of the Queen — to ask them to join any private or public commemorations.
Last September, in a show of unity during a temporary truce, William and Kate invited Meghan and Harry to join them in viewing flowers left by a grieving public at Windsor for the late Queen.
But although the Prince and Princess of Wales will lead the nation on September 8 in marking the anniversary, there has been no invitation to Harry and Meghan.
And for the first time none of the Royal Family social media accounts marked Meghan’s birthday this month.
The Palace tried to play down the snubs, but the message echoes Charles’s first speech as King after his mother’s death, when he spoke plainly about Harry and Meghan as they “continue to build their lives overseas”.
Charles is thought to have had no contact with Harry since before the Coronation, while William has barely talked to him since his move to the US.
For now, Harry and Meghan’s relationship is said to be “strong” — yet it is clear their careers are diverging.
Since Megxit they have claimed an unnamed Royal Family member made racist comments about their unborn children and bickered over the children’s security.
Over here, Prince Louis has become a national treasure for his antics at the Coronation, while George and Charlotte have charmed in equal measure.
While differing opinions on raising children is natural, Archie and Lilibet might benefit from being allowed to enjoy their California lives with Mum and Dad — not just privately behind the security of their Montecito mansion.
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