ROYAL FAMILY NEWS'Miserable' Prince Harry Looks 'Sad Most of the Time' 6 Years After Exile From Royal Family, Author Claims
Prince Harry is 'miserable' living in California — six years after his royal departure.
May 5 2026, Published 11:25 a.m. ET
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle opted to leave the royal family in 2020 to build a life together in Montecito, Calif.
However, the Duke of Sussex, 41, is reportedly not happy with how things are going on the West Coast since their departure.
Prince Harry Has Much in Common With His Great-Great-Uncle Edward VIII
Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in 1936.
Royal author Hugo Vickers compared Harry to his great-great-uncle Edward VIII, who infamously abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson.
The expert noted how the two men "looked pretty miserable" after they each left The Firm.
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson were exiled from the royal family after the abdication crisis.
"If you look at photographs of the Duke of Windsor in old age … I’ve never seen such sad eyes on a man because of what happened. In both cases, they decided not to do the duty which they had been born to undertake," Vickers told Fox News on Tuesday, May 5.
Edward "looked pathetic, and he looked very sad. And Prince Harry also looks very, very sad most of the time and rather angry," he went on.
Once Harry and the Suits star, 44, moved to California, they put much of their energy into their various business ventures, such as Netflix documentaries, Meghan's As Ever brand and her since-canceled "Archetypes" podcast.
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Meghan Markle Has Often Been Compared to Wallis Simpson
Meghan Markle uses her Duchess of Sussex title to help sell her As Ever products.
Vickers also explained how Meghan is "much more in control of her destiny than Wallis was." While the Duchess of Windsor stayed quiet and "in the background" during her married life with Edward, Meghan is quite the opposite.
The former actress "is using her title and her name to market things" and "sell products." Meghan previously used her Sussex moniker to help promote her lifestyle brand and peddle items such as candles, jams and other household items.
"I don’t think Prince Harry looks happy. My theory is that he is terrified of losing her, which is a very understandable syndrome to get into," Vickers said.
Prince Philip had an interesting nickname for Meghan Markle.
The late Prince Philip also once compared Meghan to Wallis, giving her the nickname "DoW" — an abbreviated version for the Duchess of Windsor.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward claimed the Duke of Edinburgh gave her the name "the moment he detected her apparent similarity to Wallis."
She told GB News recently that Philip believed Meghan had an eerie and "uncanny" likeness to the socialite.
"He wasn't simply referring to the fact that both were pencil-slim, dark-haired and glamorous American divorcées," she said. "I think Prince Philip was very canny about people and he didn't always see the bad in them, he tried to see the good in them."
