Everything Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Said About Living in Montecito, California, USA

6 min read

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to move back to the UK this month, with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in tow. In the past year there have been a few clues the Sussexes were plotting a move back, but the decision comes as a surprise to many, at least in part due to their public comments about their time in the United States.

The Sussexes left the UK in March 2020, on what Harry called a “freedom flight.” In the six years since, both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken emotionally about their Montecito home, calling where they lived a “great community” in which they could raise their kids outside of the prying eyes of British tabloid culture. In the Oprah interview in 2021, Meghan said she was excited “to live authentically” in the States, and in 2024, Harry said they planned on living in the U.S. for good, saying, “I very much enjoy living here and bringing my kids up here.” Furthermore, last year, Harry told the BBC, “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”

Obviously, much has changed since those comments, but it’s worth revisiting how the Sussexes have spoken about their time living in the UK versus their life in California.

2019 – 2021: Mental health and leaving the UKPool//Getty Images

The Sussexes in South Africa in 2019.

The Sussexes’ discontent with their life in the UK publicly emerged during a visit to South Africa in fall 2019—their last overseas tour as working members of the royal family. While speaking to journalist Tom Bradby, Meghan called the British approach to emotions “really damaging” as she discussed the impact of the tabloids. In Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, the documentary that aired about the trip, she said, “It’s not enough to just survive something, right? That’s not the point of life. You’ve got to thrive, you’ve got to feel happy. I think I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. I tried, I really tried, but I think what that does internally is probably really damaging, and the biggest thing that I know is that I never thought this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair, and that is the part that is hard to reconcile, but just take each day as it comes.”

She later expanded on her comments in the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah, which aired in March 2021. In that sit-down, Meghan opened up about her mental health struggles and revealed for the first time she had experienced suicidal thoughts. “I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially because I know how much loss he has suffered. But I knew that if I didn’t say it, then I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” Meghan said. She added she asked the Palace human resources department for help, but there was nothing they could do. “So we had to find a solution,” Meghan said, which meant leaving the UK.

Chris Jackson//Getty ImagesMeghan during their Oprah interview. In 2024, three years after the Oprah interview aired, Meghan said she hasn’t “scraped the surface on my experience,” but sharing was part of her “healing journey.”

A few months after the Oprah interview, Prince Harry opened up about his own mental health on the podcast Armchair Expert saying the move to the U.S. was about putting “his family first.” “I’ve now moved my whole family to the U.S.,” he told co-hosts Dax Shepherd and Monica Padman. “Well that wasn’t the plan. But sometimes you’ve got to make decisions that put your family first and your mental health first.”

Prince Harry also spoke during that conversation about feeling “more free” in his current home of Montecito. “Living here now, I can actually lift my head and I feel different. My shoulders have dropped, so has hers, and you can walk around feeling a little bit more free. I get to take Archie on the back of my bicycle.” Growing up in the UK, he added, “There was very rarely a day that went by without at least one paparazzi jumping out from behind a car or something.”

The conversation echoed other remarks Harry made that same month about the stress of living in the UK in The Me You Can’t See, the Apple TV+ mental-health docuseries he made with Oprah. “For most of my life, I’ve always felt worried, concerned, a little bit tense and uptight whenever I fly back into the UK, whenever I fly back into London,” Harry said. He added, “London is a trigger because of what happened to my mum.”

2022: Finding a “healing” home in the United StatesWPA Pool//Getty Images

The Sussexes during the Platinum Jubilee.

In 2022, which saw the Sussexes return to the UK for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, as well as the death of Queen Elizabeth, and the premiere of the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the Sussexes began speaking about their new life in California more publicly.

Harry told Hoda Kotb that “home for me, now, for the time being, is the States,” and “we’ve been welcomed with open arms.” He added that his family has “such a great community up in Santa Barbara.” That same year, in a profile in The Cut, Meghan said, “We did everything we could to get this house,” referring to her home in Montecio. “Because you walk in and go… Joy. And exhale. And calm. It’s healing. You feel free.”

In that same Cut interview, she revealed that if Archie were in school in the UK, she wouldn’t be able to do school pickup and drop-off without it being a paparazzi moment. “Sorry, I have a problem with that. That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child,” Meghan said. (It’s unclear what that means for her move back.)

Screenshot/Netflix

Prince Archie’s first birthday in Harry & Meghan.

So, too, in 2022 did Meghan speak of their home life on an episode of Archetypes, when she detailed the Sussex family’s morning routine and how she makes breakfast for Harry, Archie, and Lili. “It’s very important to me,” she said. “I love doing it.” (In With Love, Meghan, which aired in 2025, the Duchess also talked about beginning her day with her chickens, saying getting eggs was her favorite way to start the day. “You think about your day differently,” she said.)

Harry & Meghan premiered on Netflix at the end of 2022, and the docuseries offered a glimpse into the Sussexes’ new life with their kids in California. “This is one of the places where I think my mum was probably going to end up living. Potentially,” Harry said at the end of the sixth episode, hinting at the rumors Diana was going to move to Malibu before she died.

2024 – 2025: Building a life in CaliforniaScreenshot/Netflix

Harry and Meghan in With Love, Meghan.

In 2024, Harry was unequivocal about his plans to stay in the United States. Asked at the New York Times DealBook Summit whether he planned to remain there for good, he replied, “I do.” “I very much enjoy living here and bringing my kids up here,” he said. Harry also said living in California was what Diana would’ve wanted for him: “I feel as though it’s the life that my mom wanted for me.”

He added, “to be able to do the things I’m able to do with my kids that I undoubtedly wouldn’t be able to do in the UK, it’s huge. I’m hugely grateful for that.”

Meghan’s comments the following year reinforced just how much California mattered to the Sussexes. In With Love Meghan season one, Meghan told Alice Waters, “I just wanna sit here and eat quiche and salad with you! It just tastes like home. I’ve missed California.” In that same episode, Meghan had her inner circle over for a brunch.“My husband will be here, my mom will be here, my best friend since college,” she explained. “Just my community. Having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life.”

Her community all lives in California; there’s no word yet regarding Doria, her mom, and if she will be moving with them to the UK. Perhaps Montecito will always be home for the Sussexes, and wherever they end up in the UK is just temporary. The couple will reportedly maintain their house in Montecito, California, and their vacation property in Portugal. It remains as yet unclear where they will live in Britain.

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.