Prince Harry longing for UK life as Sussex media revenue falls short of headline deals, sources say

LONDON, Aug 16. Prince Harry misses the United Kingdom and the role he once held there, according to sources who spoke with Celebrity Intelligence, a weekly pop-culture newsletter. Dan Wakeford, the newsletter's founder and a former editor of People, Entertainment Weekly, and Us Weekly, told Fox News Digital that the Duke of Sussex "particularly doesn't love the life he has in America" and would prefer a smaller existence to the one he and Meghan Markle maintain in California.

Wakeford said Harry misses his family, his friends, and his former life in Britain. Archewell, which handles the couple's affairs, called the claims "unfounded speculation, of which we don't comment."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as working royals in 2020, citing press intrusions and a lack of palace support, and pursued media ventures to establish financial independence. Headline figures for those deals stood at $100 million from Netflix and $20 million from Spotify, Wakeford said, numbers he described as significantly higher than what the couple actually received. The Netflix arrangement was closer to $60 million, and the Spotify deal amounted to $5 million as an early-exit payment, he claimed. The couple "don't have a sustainable business model," Wakeford said, though he added they are not running out of money. Sources close to the pair told Wakeford they need to determine their strategy within five years.

Those comments came weeks after a family gathering that Buckingham Palace confirmed. On July 10, Harry, Meghan, and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, met with King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House. Harry had arrived in the United Kingdom on July 6 for charity events. The July meeting was the first time in years that the king had hosted the Sussex family.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital that Harry is "without a proper role." He has the Invictus Games but misses aspects of life in the United Kingdom, including his charitable connections and his mother, who is buried there, Fitzwilliams said. British royal expert Hilary Fordwich said seeing Harry play wheelchair rugby with Invictus Games participants showed him "grinning ear to ear," and that the Highgrove meeting with his father would have reminded him of the prominent life he once led.

Harry's 2023 memoir, "Spare," further strained the relationship with the royal family. In a 2025 BBC interview, he said he "would love reconciliation with my family." During a September visit to London, he met King Charles briefly for tea, the first time the two had seen each other in well over a year.