A historian doesn’t think there’s any truth to the rumor Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are gearing up to do some U.K. house-hunting. They feel another option besides buying real estate in London, England, or the surrounding area makes better “sense.” Additionally, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s “actions” in 2023 haven’t lined up with the rumor.

Harry’s made only ‘pitstops’ in the U.K., Meghan hasn’t visited since 2022

Speaking to the U.K.’s Mirror about Harry and Meghan potentially buying a home in London, historian and royal expert Dr. Tessa Dunlop said it’s, in her opinion, highly unlikely. Take, for instance, the trips Harry’s made to his home country this year. 

“His 2023 U.K. pitstops have included a very expensive legal battle with the British press, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him coronation moment, and a charity event pre-Invictus Games in Germany,” Dunlop said. “These are not the actions of a man who is about to start house hunting in the U.K.” 

Meanwhile, Meghan hasn’t set foot on U.K. soil for a major event since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022. Despite their quick and sometimes far-in-between visits to Britain, Harry, per Dunlop, likely wants to have an England address. 

“I’m sure Harry would like a bolthole in London,” the historian said. “It’s his home city, after all. But it makes no sense for the safety-obsessed Sussexes to invest in a private property when they can bunk up with cousins on the Windsor estate or stay in one of London’s working palaces where the security brief is on tap.” 

“Rather, it is we, the British public. who are missing Harry,” she explained. “Let’s face it, this new, more discreet Duke and Duchess who keep themselves to themselves in America, popping up occasionally to do good works, is a bit boring.”

“Far from buying a penthouse near London, it doesn’t even look like King Charles will get a Christmas cuddle” from Harry and Meghan’s children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.

Harry and Meghan wouldn’t rely on King Charles’s ‘estate’ for a U.K. home

If Harry and Meghan were to purchase a home in the U.K., they’d buy it with their own money instead of staying in a place owned by the Crown, Dunlop continued. 

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“The Sussexes are going to house hunt in and around London, at least so goes the rumor,” she said. “Despite his father owning more homes than you or I have hot dinners — try counting them — by all accounts, Harry’s mooted return to the U.K. will not see him lean on his father’s estate. Rather, the pair will branch out and buy somewhere of their own, in a mission driven by homesick Harry.” 

“Just as Camilla was the evil adulterer until we discovered a gentle, and even pretty, queen, Harry is being curated as the little lost boy, a square peg in an American hole who wants to come home,” she added. We Brits want to believe Harry can’t manage without us, that he misses the brother he has told us he was never close to, the father he is no longer speaking to, and the country he slammed.”

Harry enjoys calling California ‘home,’ but misses the U.K.

“Harry has definitely found his vibe and is very settled in California. But he does miss home,” Daniel Martin, makeup artist and friend to Meghan, said (via People). 

Harry and Meghan bought a home in Montecito, California, in 2020, where they live with Archie, Lili, and their two dogs. Since relocating, Harry has shared he enjoys life on the West Coast. 

“To have outdoor space where I can go for walks with Archie, and we go for walks as a family and with the dogs,” he told Oprah in his and Meghan’s 2021 interview. “You know, we go on hikes or go down to the beach, which is so close.” 

In April 2022, Harry called the U.S. his “home” — “for the time being” — telling Hoda Kotb, “It really feels that way, as well. We’ve been welcomed with open arms and have got such a great community up in Santa Barbara.”

Before relocating to California, Harry and Meghan lived at Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle and Kensington Palace’s Nottingham Cottage.