Prince Harry addressed rumors that he and Meghan Markle were thinking of moving abroad on Sunday, during an extraordinarily candid interview with journalist Tom Bradby.
The royal couple spoke with Bradby for the ITV documentary “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey,” which premiered Sunday night in the U.K. At the time of filming, the couple was on the last day of a royal tour of Africa.
“I don’t know where we could live in Africa at the moment,” Harry said to Bradby. “We’ve just come from Cape Town, that would be an amazing place for us to be able to base ourselves ― of course it would. But with all the problems that are going on there, I just don’t see how we would be able to make as much difference as we want to without the issues and the judgment of how we would be with those surroundings.”
He added that “it’s a very hard place to live when you know what’s going on but then you’re sort of slightly disconnected from it. So, the rest of our lives, our life’s work will be predominately focused on Africa, on conservation. There are 19 Commonwealth countries across this continent so there’s a lot of things to be done, but there’s also huge potential.”
Rumors that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may move abroad first started in April, after The Sunday Times reported that the royal couple was toying with relocating to Africa or Canada.
At the time, Buckingham Palace didn’t wholly deny the rumor of the possibility of the move when reached for comment by HuffPost.
“Any future plans for The Duke and Duchess are speculative at this stage. No decisions have been taken about future roles,” the palace said in April. “The Duke will continue to fulfill his role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.”
But the two are taking time off soon, as the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays approach. The royals will take a six-week sabbatical for “family time,” according to The Sunday Times, and split their break between the U.S. and the U.K.
“The duke and duchess have a full schedule of engagements and commitments until mid-November, after which they will be taking some much-needed family time,” a source told The Sunday Times.
The family will likely head to Los Angeles ― where Meghan’s mom, Doria Ragland, lives ― for their 5-month-old son Archie’s first Thanksgiving. After that, the duke and duchess will join the royal family for Christmas at Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.
“Harry & Meghan: An African Journey” airs in the U.S. at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday on ABC.
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