Why Prince Harry Moved to the US?

A lot has been said about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's move to the U.S., but what really made the Duke of Sussex relocate to this country?

Prince Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior royal roles in 2020. They then moved to the U.S. and lived in privacy with their two kids, Archie and Lilibet, in Santa Barbara, California.

Stopping The 'Genetic Pain and Suffering'

The Duke of Sussex has revealed several reasons why he left the U.K. and lived in the U.S.

In an interview on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, the prince revealed one of the major reasons he decided to move to the U.S. was to break the "genetic pain and suffering" cycle within his family.

He believed his dad, King Charles III, raised him the way he was raised as a young royal and promised he would never do the same to his kids.

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"He's treated me the way that he was treated," he said, per Harper's Bazaar. "There's a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway. We as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say, 'You know what? That happened to me. I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen to you.'"

Growing up, he started to see the similarities between his and his dad's lives.

"He's treated me the way that he was treated, which means how can I change that for my own kids?'" Prince Harry continued. "And, well, here I am. I've now moved my whole family to the U.S., but that wasn't the plan. But sometimes you've got to make decisions and put your family first and put your mental health first."

Protecting the Family from British Press

In an interview on The Late, Late Show, Prince Harry also told James Corden that their move was to protect his family from the British press and preserve his mental health.

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"It was never walking away; it was stepping back rather than stepping down," he explained, via Kiro7. "You know, it was a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like, and it was destroying my mental health. I was like; this is toxic. So I did what any husband and what any father would do. It's like, I need to get my family out of here. But we never walked away, and as far as I'm concerned, I will never walk away whatever decisions are made on that side."

Family Reasons

In addition, As Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, lives in California, and Prince Harry's mom, the late Princess Diana, reportedly wanted to live in the U.S., the royal couple chose to live in Santa Barbara.

The Sussexes purchased their first home in Santa Barbara, and a source told Hello! they moved with their son, Archie, in July 2020.

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"They have settled into the quiet privacy of their community since their arrival and hope that this will be respected for their neighbors, as well as for them as a family," the insider said.

A different source told Vogue that though Prince Harry loved California, he and his wife were "both drawn to the smaller town of Santa Barbara."

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