‘Different goals', family feuds & ‘nothing in common'… can embattled Harry & Meghan survive the dreaded 7 year itch?
THEY shared a look of love on their wedding day in 2018 and have been through enough drama since to last a lifetime.
Fast forward to earlier this month, and Harry and Meghan looked as close as ever as they packed on the PDA watching Beyonce play in Los Angeles.
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But in business, it seems the couple may have entered the era of the dreaded Seven Year Itch, as their careers head in different directions.
The move has sparked wild rumours about their marriage.
And today, on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's seventh wedding anniversary, insiders admit to The Sun that the pair have gone on a so-called 'professional separation'.
But they insist Harry 'never looks at another woman' and say they would be 'stunned' if the couple ever split romantically.
Nevertheless, they do seem to have different goals, with former Suits actress Meghan dreaming of the high life, believing she deserves it for marrying a Prince.
An insider said: ' Meghan wants to be a billionaire and a celebrity, whereas Harry would be happy having a quiet life and popping out to do his charity events.'
Millions rejoiced as Charles led Meghan down the aisle on May 19, 2018 to marry his youngest son.
And hardly a chance is missed for the couple to share their perfect life, whether through carefully curated 'date night' Instagram snaps or Meghan telling a podcast that her hubby is a 'fox'.
Meanwhile, Harry grows increasingly estranged from Britain and his family amid defeat in his High Court battle to overturn a protection downgrade since ' Megxit ', when he and Meghan quit as working royals and relocated to the US.
'Very different'
A shock BBC interview in which he hinted his father could facilitate a fix to his security issues no doubt dealt a further blow to any prospect of reconciliation as the Monarch juggles royal duties with a cancer diagnosis.
Meghan's got it all WRONG - She's shown us the real her but we HATE it
Insisting he can't see how Meg and his children could ever return to the UK, Harry told the Beeb: 'There is a lot of control and ability in my father's hands. Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him.'
At the same time, Meghan's podcast and cookery endeavours are being widely lampooned.
Harry's behaviour is unlikely to endear him to royal relatives or the public. In fact, a recent YouGov poll shows that only disgraced Prince Andrew is less popular than the California couple.
Earlier this year, Harry and Meghan looked inseparable amid a supportive crowd in Canada at the Duke's Invictus Games, yet the Duchess jetted home early, leaving her hubby to spend Valentine's Day alone.
An insider said behind the scenes it seemed 'tense'.
I saw first hand, at the 2023 Games in Dusseldorf, Germany, how the atmosphere in Team Sussex was far more relaxed before Meg arrived halfway through.
Last September, Harry spent his 40th birthday without her as he went hiking with friends, although sources close to the couple insist Meghan organised the trip.
When the couple travelled to Colombia for a faux royal tour last year, it was branded the 'Meghan show', with Harry often playing second fiddle.
And while the Prince raked in millions by revealing family conversations and secrets in his best-selling memoir, Spare, Meghan has become a 'mumpreneur', with a string of major launches, from a cookery show to jam-selling business.
Sources have insisted it is normal for couples not to spend all their time together, but added: 'It can appear they have very little in common in what they like or want. They are very different.'
When the couple travelled to Colombia for a faux royal tour last year, it was branded the 'Meghan show', with Harry often playing second fiddle.
He made one fleeting, awkward appearance in the final episode of his wife's much-derided cookery show, With Love, Meghan, appearing every inch a 'Spare'.
The lovebirds are rarely seen out unless to visit friends or host dinner parties.
Recently, they cosied up to Brooklyn Beckham and his wife Nicola Peltz, bonding over shared bitter family feuds.
And Harry's closest friends in California are said to be the husbands of Meghan's pals.
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Since launching an Instagram page five months ago, the Duchess frequently shares her picture-perfect life with her 3million followers.
On their recent Beyonce gig 'date night', photos portrayed a happy A-list celebrity couple as secure today as they were when Charles walked Meghan down the aisle.
In carefully curated concert photos, Meg was draped over her grinning husband, who revealed his hat was inscribed with loving tributes.
But as everyone who has ever used Instagram knows, it is the social media of choice to display an overly 'perfect' lifestyle.
Sources do point out the pair are wonderful, loving parents to Archie, six, and three-year-old Lilibet. But it seems the youngsters may never again see either of their grandfathers.
Meghan has not spoken to her dad, Thomas Markle, since he posed for paparazzi pictures ahead of her wedding. He now lives 7,000 miles from Montecito in the Philippines.
And Harry's ill-advised decision to lob wild accusations at the King to the BBC, just minutes after palace sources told The Sun they believed there could be a way back for the royals, likely torpedoed a reunion.
On recent trips back to the UK, the moaning Duke has dropped in at a pal's house to have a Deliveroo and was caught on doorbell cameras knocking at multiple homes saying he was 'looking for a friend'.
In 2027, Harry's Invictus Games are being hosted in Birmingham. But unless there is a radical change to how he perceives his security in the UK by then, it seems unlikely that Meghan will be by his side. Having no communication with his father, or with his older brother, Prince William, Harry is becoming an increasingly isolated figure.
The professional separation has seen Meghan clutching at so many different business ventures, it seems as if she is trying to grab hold of any plan that works.
'Dream turned sour'
She chose fame, having always dreamed of being an actress, and enjoys sharing her lifestyle and children with the world, though she keeps Archie and Lilibet's faces hidden.
Meanwhile, life in the limelight was forced on Harry due to his royal heritage and he has said he finds the sound of photographers' cameras makes his 'blood boil'.
In his controversial BBC interview he claimed: 'I was born into this position, it wasn't a choice'.
Both he and Meghan have given up much from their past, with Harry saying farewell to royal duties and the people of the UK who forgave his youthful indiscretions as he pursued a more discreet family life in Montecito.
Elsewhere, with her acting career shelved, Meghan is championing her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
Despite begging for privacy and blaming the Press for their problems, both have flocked to the media when they want to get a message out.
Speaking two weeks ago to podcaster Jamie Kern Lima, the Duchess was gushing in her description of her hubby. Asked if she would be married to Harry forever, she replied, 'Yes', and said, 'He's also a fox, if you haven't noticed. My husband's very, very handsome. But his heart is even more beautiful.'
She added: 'That man loves me so much and, you know, look what we've built. We have built a beautiful life and we have two healthy, beautiful children. I always think . . . at the end of Super Mario Bros, the final level, what's the goal in Super Mario? It's to slay the dragons and save the princess.'
Harry never looks at another woman. He never checks anyone else out. I'd be stunned if they ever parted.
Royal insider
The knight in shining armour role is one Harry has always revelled in, explaining in his six-part Netflix series that he promised to protect Meghan as far back as their third date, when he took her to the Botswana bush.
He stuck to that vow when their royal dream turned sour, saying that he did not want 'history to repeat itself' after his mother, Princess Diana, was pursued by photographers before her fatal car crash.
Now, Harry gets to save his princess over and over again.
Despite the many challenges the couple face, most of their own doing, the rumours of trouble in paradise appear to be just that — rumours.
One insider told The Sun: 'Harry never looks at another woman. He never checks anyone else out. I'd be stunned if they ever parted.'
There have always been whispers that, one day, this drama-seeking royal marriage will fail, and Harry will be back with his tail between his legs begging the UK and his family for forgiveness.
Yet there is no desire for the Prince to return to any royal duty and the 'half-in, half-out' suggestion raised by the Sussexes before Megxit remains off the table.
In 2022 Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, the Duke said: 'This is a great love story, and the craziest thing is that I think this love story is only getting started.'
But he added of his wife: 'She sacrificed everything she ever knew, the freedom that she had, to join me in my world. And then pretty soon after that, I ended up sacrificing everything that I knew to join her in her world.'
The question, as the couple enter Seven Year Itch territory, is how far through their love story are we — and were the sacrifices worth it?
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