Harry, Meghan ‘step back,’ plan move
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s decision to “step back” from royal duties and make North America their part-time home has spurred speculation about where the royals will settle.
Canada is high on the list of possibilities, especially given the couple’s decision to to spend their Christmas holiday on Vancouver Island, basing themselves at a North Saanich mansion.
Hours before the announcement, rumours emerged online and in tabloids that the couple were planning a move to Canada, which Buckingham Palace refused to comment on.
There are reasons such a move would make sense, aside from the fact it allows the royals to remain residents of the Commonwealth. Before marrying Prince Harry, Meghan Markle spent seven years living in Toronto while filming the TV series, Suits, and was a celebrity champion of local hotspots and fashion brands. It can’t be discounted that Meghan was born in California, where her mother, Doria Ragland, lives. Could the Duchess of Sussex be lured back to the Golden State to raise baby Archie near his maternal grandmother?
The royals’ statement Wednesday offers few clues, other than the assurance that they will maintain their duty to “the Queen, the Commonwealth and our patronages.”
Here’s a look at the couple’s ties to Canada:
MEGHAN HEARTS TORONTO
Toronto made an impression on the Duchess of Sussex during her Suits days — her residency was marked by social media shoutouts to favourite restaurants and hangouts, and she reportedly volunteered at a soup kitchen.
By 2016, Meghan was practically an honorary Canadian thanks to being named the promotional face of the wardrobe retailer Reitmans, for which she designed a capsule collection, and the Christian charity World Vision Canada.
Harry, too, has displayed a fondness for Toronto during his visits, which included the time the city hosted his Invictus Games for wounded military personnel in September 2017.
THEY HAVE FRIENDS IN TORONTO
Meghan is said to have close pals in Toronto, including Markus Anderson, a consultant with hotel and private clubs chain Soho House. He was among those rumoured to have introduced the couple to each other. Then there’s bestie stylist Jessica Mulroney, wife of TV personality Ben Mulroney, son of the former prime minister.
According to Harry: Life, Loss and Love, a biography by Katie
Nicholl, the couple hid out at the Mulroney home after news of their relationship broke, and Harry and Ben Mulroney reportedly bonded over Mulroney’s memories of meeting Diana, Harry’s mother, as a child.
Jessica Mulroney held a prominent role in the royal wedding, with the Mulroneys’ twin sons among the page boys at the nuptials.
THEY SPENT THE HOLIDAYS ON VANCOUVER ISLAND
Harry, Meghan and baby Archie spent the Christmas holidays on Vancouver Island.
Their first official duty upon their return to the U.K. was a visit to Canada House in London, where Harry reportedly joked about a soggy vacation on Vancouver Island, but gushed in a statement about “the warm Canadian hospitality and support they received during their recent stay in Canada.”
The BBC has reported that Harry and Meghan did not consult with other members of the Royal Family before making their statement, and Buckingham Palace was “disappointed.”
“Senior royals are understood to be hurt by the announcement,” the BBC said.
Both Harry and Meghan have talked about being unhappy with being in the media spotlight in the U.K. Although as an actress and human rights advocate, the duchess was accustomed to media attention before her marriage, she has made no secret of the fact that the transition to the level of celebrity faced by Britain’s royal family was difficult.
Last year, Harry lashed out at the British media for its treatment of his wife, accusing the media of hounding her the way they did his mother, Diana, who died in a 1997 car crash while trying to elude paparazzi.
“My deepest fear is history repeating itself. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces,” Harry said in the fall.