Prince Harry and Meghan Markle considered following Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip 's footsteps with a year away from UK, a new royal book has claimed.
A new book by Valentine Low entitled 'Adapted from Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown' claims Sir David Manning, the former Ambassador to the US, had been drawing up future proposals for the royal couple.
Manning - who spent 10 years as Prince William and Harry’s foreign affairs adviser - felt there should have be a period of time for Meghan and Harry to pursue their own philanthropic and other interests.
The adviser, Low says, thought that Harry ’s love of Africa and deep-rooted interest in conservation should be pursued.
He also believed Meghan would want private time with her family and friends in the USA away from the public eye.
Manning also looked to other royal couples and how they spent their time before royal life completely took over.
Low writes: "Soon after the Queen and Prince Philip married, they’d lived in Malta, while William and Kate had started married life in Anglesey. 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."
In the end, however, the idea never took off. Money and security were probably the two big problems that scuppered it.
The Queen and Philip resided in Villa Guardamangia, just outside the Maltese capital of Valetta, for two years between between 1949 and 1951.
The Queen later described her stay on Malta as one of the best periods of her life, and the only time she was able to live "normally".
Speaking about why the plan never came of fruition, Low writes: "In the end, however, the idea never took off. Money and security were probably the two big problems that scuppered it.
"‘It ran into the sand,’ said Manning. ‘The problems were real, and there was not a willingness to find the resources.’"
Harry and Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in a bombshell interview in 2021 that they also raised the idea of a move to South Africa later in their relationship too.
Discussing stepping away from royal life, the Sussexes defended their initial idea - saying that they could have continued representing the Queen as “non-senior” royals, while relocating to a Commonwealth country.
Meghan told Oprah: “We were saying, 'OK, 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.’
"“We suggested New Zealand, South Africa…”
Harry added that this would have enabled them to “take a breath”, while his wife claimed they also suggested moving to Canada.
The couple left royal life in 2020 and moved to California, USA and have now settled in Montecito with their children Archie and Lilibet.
