When I revealed last month that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had bought a house on the coast of Portugal, the reasons for the purchase remained a mystery.
Why had the couple bought their first European property after being evicted from Frogmore Cottage in Windsor by King Charles early last year?
Now, things may have become clearer: Prince Harry and Meghan could have been looking for an escape route if Donald Trump returned to the White House.
A royal source told me earlier this year that the Sussexes were making increasingly “desperate” efforts to spread olive branches across the Atlantic. This followed a series of hostile comments from the Trump family.
And the same source said yesterday: “We can expect to see more of Harry in Britain in the coming years.”
During a visit to the Trump International Golf Links in Scotland in August, the president-elect’s son, Eric, called the duke and duchess “spoiled apples” and echoed his father’s claims that Harry could be deported if they won the republicans.
Prince Harry and Meghan, pictured here in Dusseldorf last year, could be looking for an escape route in Portugal now that Donald Trump returns to the White House.
“You can happily keep those two,” Eric added. ‘Maybe we don’t want them anymore; It feels like they are on their own island.’
Donald Trump had previously suggested that Harry, who has lived in California since 2020, would not get “special privileges” and could in fact be deported if he is found to have falsified information on his visa form.
In his memoir, Spare, the prince revealed that he previously used drugs, including cocaine, cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms, which under US law would normally be grounds for rejecting a visa application.
Last month, a conservative American think tank attempted to reopen its court case to force the Department of Homeland Security to reveal the prince’s immigration records, on the grounds that it had not been allowed to see private presentations to the judge made by the Biden administration. . .
The previous case brought by the Washington, DC-based Heritage Foundation had been dismissed in September, after a nearly two-year legal battle, when the judge ruled that there was no strong public interest in releasing the records.
Meghan has previously criticized Trump as “divisive” and “misogynistic”, while her son Eric labels the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “spoiled apples”.
Of course, there is history between the Trumps and Meghan. While still an actress, Meghan described Trump Sr. as “divisive” and “misogynistic.”
While living in Toronto during the filming of the legal drama Suits, he stated that he would prefer to stay in Canada rather than return to his American homeland with Trump as president.
Someone who worked for the royals while the couple were still part of ‘The Firm’ told me in August: ‘It seems pretty clear that the Sussexes are desperate to start closing the gap (with the Royal Family).’
As evidence, the source pointed to the series of stories that had recently appeared in People magazine, a favorite outlet of Harry and Meghan. They included an article in July about Harry’s despair over his father not accepting his phone calls and another claiming his breakup with Prince William was not “irreparable.”
These comments followed an interview Harry gave in February, suggesting that the King’s cancer diagnosis could help them put aside their differences.
After his 26-hour visit to see his father earlier that month, Harry said: ‘In all these families I see, on a day-to-day basis, the strength of the family unit coming together. I think any illness, any illness, brings families together.’
Of course, no one doubts Harry’s genuine concern for his father’s health.
The re-elected president is seen here alongside the Queen during a visit to the UK in 2019. He was challenged for walking in front of Her Majesty.
The prince has said Britain is too dangerous a destination for his family since the government withdrew his automatic taxpayer-funded security after he stopped being a royal and moved to the United States. He is reportedly still willing to appeal the High Court’s decision on the matter.
Buying their house in Portugal may have allowed the couple to acquire a so-called “golden visa,” under which they would gain passport-free access to Europe’s Schengen area, made up of almost 30 countries.
This could have been a big draw for Meghan in particular. When the couple became engaged in November 2017, Kensington Palace said Meghan planned to apply for British citizenship in due course, and a spokesperson confirmed that she “will go through the process (which) takes several years.”
However, the idea was eventually abandoned after she and her husband left the country in March 2020, less than two years after their wedding.
Reconciliation with the Firm aside, acquiring a golden visa would help Meghan, should she and her husband develop their plans to become ‘rival royals’ across the water, allowing them to easily travel around Europe. We’ve already seen them go on ‘almost real’ tours of Nigeria and Colombia, and more overseas trips are in the works.
If the Sussexes find life in California too uncomfortable under Trump, then Portugal – which overthrew their monarchy in 1910 – could soon find itself hosting a new royal court.
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