WHERE DOES PRINCE HARRY Belong?

He has family ties and a whole lot of history in the U.K., but he's putting down roots in Hollywood. Why Harry's hoping to find a happy medium

- 

On Christmas Day, King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, led the royal family to and from St. Mary Magdalene Church for the annual Sandringham walk. Prince William and Princess Kate followed with their three children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, who warmly engaged with members of the public, politely shaking hands and accepting gifts. Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice were also in attendance, smiling alongside their husbands on the crisp, picture-perfect morning.

More than 5,000 miles away in sunny California, Prince Harry spent the holiday with his wife, Meghan Markle, and kids, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4. It marked his seventh year of absence from U.K. festivities, and he feels the sting. "I miss the weird family gatherings when we're all sort of brought together under one roof for certain times of the year. That I miss," he told the BBC in May. Adds royal author Christopher Andersen: "Does it pain Harry to be pointedly excluded from times when the royal family gets together, like Christmas at Sandringham? Of course it does."

Harry, 41, has made a new life for himself with Meghan, 44, in the exclusive enclave of Montecito, where they bought their $14.6 million mansion in 2020. He's taken up surfing and has been photographed riding his bike on local streets and playing fetch with his black lab, Pula, on the beach. But he remains torn between two worlds. "On one level, Harry is content in California," says Andersen, noting that on another, he must regret that “neither he nor his children are sharing in their royal heritage.”

Pros & Cons