Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have changed significantly since leaving the UK for the United States nearly six years ago, according to royal journalist Omid Scobie, once widely described as one of the couple’s most sympathetic chroniclers.
Scobie, who has long been associated with coverage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, said the pair now “relate to Britain differently than they once did,” suggesting their view of the country has evolved with time and distance.
The journalist noted that Harry and Meghan, who formally stepped back from royal duties in 2020, are now in a very different phase of life: older, parenting two young children, and pursuing businesses and careers outside the framework of the monarchy.
Writing on his newly launched Substack, “Off Script,” which debuted yesterday, Scobie revealed that he had been told in 2023 that California was never necessarily meant to be the couple’s permanent or sole home base.
He wrote: “It was the right home for that chapter of their lives, but their children’s education and evolving priorities would shape what came next – including where they chose to live, and for how long.”
Scobie also drew on his own experience of public scrutiny, reflecting on his decision to relocate from London to California in 2023 — three years after the Sussexes made their move across the Atlantic.
He said: “Leaving somewhere and returning to it later are not contradictory acts. Sometimes distance is what reshapes the relationship.
“The place you come from can mean something different in your forties or fifties than it did in your twenties or thirties, after years away and as priorities shift.”
Mr Scobie also wrote: ‘Harry and Meghan themselves are not the same people who left. They are older, raising two children, building businesses and careers independent of royal life, and relate to Britain differently than they once did.’
Omid Scobie, pictured in 2023, was known for his close relationship with Harry and Meghan
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at a David Foster Foundation event in Canada on August 7
Mr Scobie was dubbed Harry and Meghan’s ‘cheerleader’ when he became their most trusted journalist through their relationship and departure from royal life.
He co-authored the 2020 book Finding Freedom, a biography which chronicled the Sussexes in glowing terms and outlined their many frustrations with royal life.
Mr Scobie was at the centre of a royal race row in 2023 when the Dutch translation of his second book Endgame named two royals who were said to have asked what colour skin Harry and Meghan’s child Prince Archie would have before he was born.
But he has since transitioned to fiction writing and TV production, relocating to Los Angeles and releasing a romantic novel called Royal Spin in February.
The book is about an American press agent who leaves behind her career at the White House for a communications job in London at Buckingham Palace.
Universal Television is developing a TV series based on the novel for NBC’s Peacock, with Mr Scobie serving as writer, co-creator and executive producer.
Following the revelation last Wednesday that Harry and Meghan were returning to Britain, Mr Scobie said the couple have been ‘slowly and methodically’ planning their move back to Britain.
He added that clues about the Sussexes leaving America after six years ‘have been there all along’.
Mr Scobie also mentioned how the duke and duchess had reduced the size of their US office and restructured and rebranded their Archewell Foundation to Archewell Philanthropies.
Mr Scobie told ABC News in a clip he then posted on his Instagram page: ‘I think if you’ve been watching the story really closely, the clues have been there all along.
‘We saw earlier this year that Harry and Meghan started to scale down the size of their offices here, the number of staff working for them in the US.
‘We also saw them scale down their charitable foundation as well to operate on a different working model. And so you can see then along the way this is a couple that have been slowly and methodically planning some form of move.
William, Harry, Meghan and Charles at a Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in 2019
‘Whether it’s the version that was announced yesterday, only they know, but this is definitely a couple that have been looking to make changes, for sure.’
He also posted on his X account for the first time since March, uploading an image of himself looking at the camera with the caption: ‘This thing still on?’
In January 2020, the duke and duchess announced they intended to step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family, become financially independent, still support Elizabeth II, but split their time between the UK and North America.
The late Queen ruled at the Sandringham Summit, which was convened to resolve the crisis, that the couple could not be half-in, half-out.
By March 2020, they had set up a permanent home in California, officially stepped down as senior royals and stopped using their HRH styles.
But the Sussexes are preparing to set up home in the UK again, in a shock development six years later, with the children now enrolled in British schools.
Former Suits star Meghan is said to be pursuing an acting role, with reports she is in talks about a role in the third series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix hit The Gentlemen, and counter claims that the deal was off.
The duke and duchess are planning an ‘extended stay’ in the UK, but it has not been confirmed how long this will last.
The dramatic U-turn by Harry leaves many questions unanswered, including whether taxpayers will foot the bill for the Sussexes’ security.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, who have been holidaying with the King at Balmoral in Scotland, have yet to respond to news of Harry and Meghan’s plans to return.
Future king William is estranged from his younger brother after Harry criticised him, Kate, Charles and Camilla in a primetime Oprah interview, a Netflix documentary and his autobiography Spare in the wake of his stepping back from royal duties.
