Harry and Meghan have recently bought their first house together in Santa Barbara, California, months after officially leaving the Royal Family’s frontline. The location is known for providing residents with great privacy, as the houses have long driveways and large gates — and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have often mentioned how they are keen to maintain some secrecy in their family life. When they were first dating back in 2016, Harry reportedly relished the privacy he and his new girlfriend had.
When their budding relationship was revealed to the public, Harry issued a surprising statement asking for Meghan’s own life to be respected.
However, his attempt to quell interest in his new love did not go to plan.
During a trip to Antigua in November 2016 — shortly after the news of his relationship broke — the Prime Minister Gaston Browne invited Harry to spend his “honeymoon” there.
Mr Browne told the crowd: “I believe we are expecting a new princess soon.
“I want you to know that you are very welcome to come on your honeymoon here.”
His words were issued in a speech in front of more than 300 VIP guests.
Harry was left “grimacing” according to The Mirror’s report, and looking at his feet as his new relationship was discussed in public.
The newspaper added: “Harry fiddled with his shirt so as to avoid eye contact.”
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Organisers from the Halo Foundation had told young people not to mention Harry’s new girlfriend when he arrived at the official residence of the Queen’s representative in Antigua and Barbuda for the Colours of Charity event.
One of Halo’s workers, Cuthbert Forbes, told The Mirror: “We were told not to talk about it.”
However, Mr Forbes added that this did not appear to be an instruction from Kensington Palace.
He explained: “It came up at an organising committee meeting when we were thinking about what we could talk to him about and one of the core members of the committee said we shouldn’t talk about his girlfriend, because it is personal.”
The couple have tried to distance themselves from the public during their marriage and raise their son Archie as a private citizen.
For instance, they decided to move away from the limelight by relocating to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor last year, after initially setting up camp in Kensington Palace.
Meghan also refused to follow royal tradition and gave birth to Archie in The Portland Hospital, London, rather than at the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital, as Kate Middleton and Princess Diana had done.
Meghan did not want to have to take photographs with her baby hours after birth, as both Kate and Diana had, so chose a different hospital and showed her newborn with Harry in Windsor Castle instead.
The couple moved to the US after they had officially left the royal frontline.
