In a new interview, a close and famous friend of Prince Harry explained that he always had plans to leave England for good with his family, but his destination was not California.
Acclaimed primatologist Dame Jane Goodall revealed that Prince Harry was eyeing a move to an African country with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their young son, Archie.
According to Goodall, Prince Harry, who wished for a “normal life,” dreamed of his son being free and running around with no shoes with other African children.
The English anthropologist said the following about The Duke of Sussex‘s plans: “He wanted to bring Archie up in Africa, running barefoot with African children.”
The late Queen Elizabeth II understood Prince Harry and Markle’s yearning for a simple and quiet life and devised a solution.
Courtiers and advisers to Queen Elizabeth confirmed that she had planned to give her grandson and his family the happy “ordinary life” they wanted in South Africa.
Historian and author Robert Lacey revealed in his book Battle of Brothers that Her Majesty contacted her senior advisers and asked them to work on a strategy that would work for the Royal Family and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
According to The Telegraph, Lacey, a historical consultant on Netflix’s controversial and successful hit period drama The Crown; The Queen spoke to Sir Christopher Geidt and Sir David Manning, a former British ambassador to the US.
The Queen and other royal family members “had heard and read much of Harry and Meghan’s wish to live an ‘ordinary’ existence.”
Markle and Prince Harry were offered the opportunity to live in Africa for a year or two.
The royal expert shared: “The big idea was to get Harry and Meghan out of the country for a decent spell. It would give everyone a breather. The Queen wanted to offer both honor and responsibility to the couple by handing them some role in her beloved British Commonwealth of Nations – a highly personal token of trust.”
The Queen sympathized with Prince Harry and Markle because she, too, loved the ordinary life she had with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, a naval officer who was stationed in Malta.
The author shared: “Well, she could recall such a period in her own life — her ‘Malta Moments’ between 1949 and 1951, when Philip was serving as a naval officer on the Mediterranean island, and she would fly out to stay with him. In Malta, Elizabeth had tasted ‘normal’ life as a young naval officer’s wife, not a king’s daughter. It had set her up well to come back home and do her duty.”
According to Lacey: “Their relationship had taken flower in Africa after all, so maybe it, or somewhere else in the Commonwealth, might provide their next step. Johannesburg could be their Malta.”
That plan never came to fruition because Prince Harry and Markle left London in 2020 and decided to call California home.
The pair lives in a multi-million dollar mansion with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
Some royal observers believe that Markle made the push for her native California because it would be easier to obtain multi-million dollar contracts with Spotify and Netflix.
Prince Harry, who has visited Africa multiple times, has a deep connection to the continent. In late August, the Prince traveled to the African nations of Rwanda and Mozambique.
Prince Harry, who has multiple charities on the continent, looks happy and at home when he is on African soil.
Recently, on her podcast, Markle shared her ties to Africa — she said that a genealogy test had revealed her ancestry was 43 percent Nigerian.
