Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit life as working royals four years ago and moved to sunny California – but things ‘haven’t turned out how he wanted’, according to his pal

Prince Harry is an ‘angry boy’ and wants the same love from the public as his brother Prince William, claims an old pal.

After quitting life as a working royal in 2020, the Duke of Sussex, 39, moved to America with his wife Meghan Markle to raise their children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three. The couple now live in the exclusive Los Angeles enclave of Montecito, thousands of miles away from his royal relatives back in Blighty.

Harry has only made a handful of trips back since, attending the funerals of Prince Philip and the late Queen and visiting father King Charles after his cancer diagnosis. The Duke insists he does not feel safe bringing his young family over, but distant friends claim he feels ‘isolated’ and ‘misses’ his old life.

Harry and Meghan embarked on their Colombia tour over the weekend as his distant pals spoke out (Archewell Foundation via Getty I)

According to the Sunday Times, the Duke yearns for the same adoration as his brother and sister-in-law, Princess Kate. The publication quoted a source who is “one of Harry’s oldest friends” and still gets the “odd WhatsApp” message from him. They said: “He’s an angry boy. Things haven’t turned out how he wanted.

“I think he misses being over here [in the UK] desperately and wants to be admired more. Anyone who knows him feels he’d rather be top of the pops here with everyone loving him, as they do with William and Kate.”

Meanwhile, another friend told the paper: “I know how important it is for him to have a happy, settled family life, but you need to do more than that if you’re him. He has ended up isolated from his family and most of his old mates, in an environment where your friendships are not like the ones you forged as a young man.

“He used to love a night out in the pub and hanging out in the country with friends. Maybe he has grown into a different person, but do I think he’d really suit the Californian lifestyle? No. Now we’ve seen it all play out, what has that left him with? On the surface, an enviable lifestyle — but for the Harry I know, I can’t imagine that gilded exile in California is where he wanted to end up.”

The insight came to light while Harry and Meghan embarked on their Colombia tour. The couple touched down in the South American country on Thursday and were greeted with open arms by vice-president Francia Marquez. They kicked off the visit, which included stop-offs in Bogota, Cartagena and Cali, with a traditional breakfast and ended the trip with a lively celebration at the Petronio Alvarez Festival, which is a celebration of Afro-Colombian music.

The security detail included heavily armed soldiers, police officers and sharp-suited private security guards. A van containing a chemical biological nuclear response unit joined the massive cavalcade of vehicles that arrived alongside the pair as well as a helicopter and drones while snipers were stationed on a roof.

Harry has only made a handful of trips back since, attending the funerals of Prince Philip and the late Queen and visiting father King Charles after his cancer diagnosis. The Duke insists he does not feel safe bringing his young family over, but distant friends claim he feels ‘isolated’ and ‘misses’ his old life.