‘It’s been very awkward’: How Harry and Meghan’s return is dividing friends

Wednesday marked a fresh chapter for the Sussexes, as they touched down in this country to begin their new lives. The non-working royals have reportedly decamped to the Cotswolds, the celebrity enclave that has welcomed plenty of other US exiles. But who will form Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s inner circle now they’re back in Britain? The old friends are divided Since Prince Harry’s relationship with his brother soured, childhood friends have found themselves on either side of this divide. “In some cases it’s been very awkward,” says Robert Hardman, author of Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story. “The new Duke of Westminster is friendly with both, but he’s very much on William’s side” (Prince Harry reportedly declined the invitation to his nuptials in 2024, despite reports that he is godfather to Archie, seven). Weddings have shown where allegiances lie. Prince Harry did not attend his cousin Peter Phillips’s wedding in June this year, while Phillips remains close to Prince William, who was there. “Those fault lines are now fairly well-established,” Hardman says of the past six years. “The fact that they’re back in the UK doesn’t make much difference.” Shorts Prince Harry will likely be calling on his old friends to smooth his transition. Charlie van Straubenzee, a friend since his days at Ludgrove Prep and one of Archie’s godfathers, is thought to have remained close during his US sojourn; ditto JJ Chalmers, a former Marine and ex-trustee of the Invictus Games, which the royal co-founded. The ex-staff rally round Some of Prince Harry’s greatest confidantes are the former members of staff who have known him since his youth. He is “particularly close to Mark Dyer, his former equerry. He’s still a good friend,” Hardman says of Dyer, known as “Marko”, who is also godfather to Archie. He has been dubbed his ex-charge’s “second dad”, and among the “few people who can talk some sense into” Prince Harry. There is also Tiggy Pettifer (née Legge-Bourke), the Princes’ former nanny. “She’s remained very close,” says Hardman; Pettifer is godmother to Archie, while Prince Harry is a godfather to Pettifer’s two sons, Tom and Fred (along with Dyer’s son, Jasper). She is said to get on well with the Duchess of Sussex, with reports that she is godmother to Lilibet, five, too. Double dates with Princess Eugenie “Princess Eugenie is very much a link,” Hardman says of her relationship with Prince Harry. There have been reports over the past year of bumps between them, including an unnamed source last week casting doubt on their friendship, while Piers Morgan said last year that the Prince went “ballistic” after a photo emerged of him hugging Princess Eugenie. But Princess Eugenie, who has been praised for her wisdom and advice-giving skills, has close ties to both Harry and Meghan. She knew the latter before the pair began dating (the Duchess described their relationship as “comfortable”), and she and her husband Jack Brooksbank double-dated with the pair before they went public as a couple. Her support was particularly appreciated when she visited the Sussexes in California in the early years of their move, when relations at home were perhaps their most fraught. She attended the 2022 Super Bowl with her cousin, and appeared in footage in the Netflix series Harry & Meghan bike riding with him, and playing in the ocean with Archie. Princess Eugenie and Brooksbank, who recently welcomed their third child, may also serve as a blueprint for what international living could look like for the Sussexes (they split their time between Portugal and the UK; the Sussexes are reported to be retaining properties in both places, and in California). Both families own homes in CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club in Melides, near Comporta – the area around an hour south of Lisbon dubbed the “Hamptons of Europe”. Some royal commenters have speculated as to whether the Sussexes will want to cool their relationship with Princess Eugenie and her sister, Princess Beatrice (with whom Prince Harry has kept in touch, though reportedly to a lesser degree), due to scandals engulfing their father. But Hardman disagrees. “They’re first cousins, they grew up together,” he says. “They’re not going to diss Eugenie and Beatrice just because of Andrew.” Hardman notes, too, that the Duchess’s first meeting with the Queen “was courtesy of Andrew and Fergie and Eugenie and Beatrice, so that friendship will endure”. Strengthened bonds with Diana’s family Apparent fractures between Prince Harry and his father and brother have seemingly strengthened bonds with his mother’s side of the family. He has stayed close to his maternal aunts, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale (who have provided support both to him and Prince William), while in July, the Duchess posted a photo of Lilibet at Althorp, her late mother-in-law’s family estate. Earl Spencer, Prince Harry’s uncle who resides at the property where Princess Diana was born and laid to rest, invited the Sussexes there over the summer (Prince Harry has also stayed on previous UK visits), and is said to have remained a close contact in the turbulent years since they left Britain. While Spencer is due to publish Swan Song, a “tell-all” book about their mother next month, this is unlikely to threaten his relationship with his nephews, Hardman says. “They’ll certainly want to wait and see what’s in it. But given Charles Spencer’s track record, it’s probably going to be respectful, and respectful of their privacy.” The Duchess’s Cotswolds’ confidantes Given he has spent the majority of his life in Britain, the Sussexes will inevitably be leaning more heavily on Prince Harry’s contacts to make this side of the Atlantic feel like home again. But the Duchess will need an inner circle of her own, and it is likely to be a blend of friends old and new. First, there is the Cotswolds crew, which she began building when the couple rented a £2.5m farmhouse in the area in 2018. In recent weeks, it has seen a new addition following reports of Meghan becoming “increasingly close” to Geri Horner, the Spice Girl who lives in a £9.2m Grade II listed vicarage. The Duchess may also spend time with Ellen DeGeneres (whose eponymous talk show she appeared on) and Portia de Rossi, fellow California-to-Cotswolds decampers who, according to one report, provided guidance on the Sussexes’ move. Older confidantes will also be called upon. With Soho Farmhouse down the road she is likely to be seeing more of Markus Anderson, the Soho House consultant who has been one of her closest friends over the last few years. She will be taking notes, too, from the friends who split their time between the UK and US, including Lindsay Jill Roth, the author and producer who appeared on Netflix’s With Love, Meghan. “There’s just always been that level of support for each other,” Roth told People magazine. “When you find someone that you are just 100 per cent yourself with, it’s rare.” Misha Nonoo, the designer who reportedly set Meghan up with Prince Harry, continues to be a friend and co-collaborator; there is also Misan Harriman, the outgoing Southbank Centre chair who has described Meghan as being like a “sister”. This glamorous circle may be bolstered by Isabel May, currently head of communications at Charlotte Tilbury Beauty (she previously worked for David Beckham), who is Archie’s godmother, and Lucy Fraser, another PR professional and longtime friend. Given the Sussexes have parted ways with a string of paid PR advisors, trusted friends who happen to be skilled reputation managers may well prove helpful. It is clear the Sussexes will not be short of friends, admirers and hangers-on – but whether they can re-capture the affections of the wider British public remains to be seen.