Prince Harry: The royal outsider returns to Britain for a new chapter

Prince Harry is preparing to move back to Britain with his family, opening a new chapter in a life that has never lacked drama — a return that once seemed almost unthinkable given the fractured relationships, the legal fights over security, and his running war with Britain's tabloid press.

The 41-year-old has spent much of his adult life pushing against the constraints of royal protocol. The early image of the angry young man, the so-called "playboy prince," gave way to a more serious figure — only for Harry to find himself at odds with the people closest to him.

He and his wife, Meghan Markle, left Britain for California six years ago. They now return still estranged from Prince William, the heir to the throne, and his wife, Princess Catherine. Whether those wounds can heal — as they appear to have done, at least in part, with Harry and his cancer-stricken father, King Charles III — remains one of the most pressing questions as the Sussexes end their self-imposed exile in the United States.

"I think one of the motivating factors for this return is reconciliation with the king and with the wider family," royal historian Ed Owens told AFP. "If those wounds are not healed, it can have a really detrimental impact — not only on the people concerned but also on the reputation of the institution."

— 'Lack of trust' —

The feud has cast a long shadow over the monarchy's public image. The palace has faced allegations of racism and bullying, accusations that risk alienating a younger, more diverse generation of Britons. Harry and Meghan, who is mixed-race, remain deeply polarizing figures at home. Polling suggests they attract more negative opinions than almost any other royal — apart from Harry's scandal-hit uncle, Prince Andrew.

"They've got to come to terms with the lack of trust in Britain," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told AFP. "They've said some very unkind things about Britain, and also about the monarchy."

At one time, Harry was among the most popular royals — a military and charity trailblazer with fiery red hair and a rebellious streak. But the trauma of losing his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, as a boy has shaped much of his life.

In 2017, he told The Telegraph that "shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well." Diana's death in Paris — caused by her intoxicated driver who sped away from pursuing paparazzi — instilled in him a lifelong hostility toward the press.

In recent years, Harry took on three UK newspapers in court, becoming the first senior royal in over a century to appear as a witness in open court. He won settlements from two of them.

— 'Traumatised' —

Henry Charles Albert David was born third in line to the throne on September 15, 1984. The image of a 12-year-old prince walking stony-faced behind his mother's coffin in 1997 earned him enduring global sympathy.

He attended Eton, the elite boarding school, where he later revealed his hurt over William allegedly ignoring him while both were pupils. He then spent a sabbatical year in Australia and Africa, caring for orphans in Lesotho, where he founded a charity in Diana's memory.

Youthful scandals — dressing as a Nazi for a costume party, being photographed partying naked in Las Vegas — fed endless tabloid coverage. "He had a very difficult childhood," trauma expert Gabor Mate told the BBC this week. "He was traumatised," he added, pointing to "the lack of emotional closeness in the family."

The tall, athletic rugby and polo fan began a decade-long military career that included two deployments to Afghanistan, one as a helicopter pilot. He resigned in 2015. The previous year, he founded the Invictus Games for wounded soldiers, an international event that continues to this day.

After his fairytale wedding to Meghan at Windsor Castle in 2018 — watched around the world — the couple were hailed as future royal rejuvenators, billed as the "fab four" alongside William and Kate. Their son, Archie, was born a year later.

— 'Arch-nemesis' William —

By early 2020, tensions had become impossible to ignore. Harry and Meghan quit Britain and stepped down as working royals. They kept their titles as the duke and duchess of Sussex but lost other royal privileges. Harry then fought a years-long, ultimately unsuccessful legal battle to reinstate his publicly funded security.

His six years in America were marked by an eagerness to settle scores — in a tell-all documentary, TV interviews, and an explosive memoir — all conducted in a public fashion rarely seen among traditionally tight-lipped British royals. The couple's unprecedented access deals, worth millions with Netflix and Spotify, drew criticism that they were monetizing their royal connections.

Harry's 2023 autobiography, "Spare," lifted the veil on royal rifts, describing William as his "arch-nemesis" and alleging a physical confrontation during a blazing 2019 row about Meghan. The memoir also detailed everything from teenage drug use and losing his virginity in a field to his strained adult relationship with Charles. He and William pleaded with their father not to marry his long-term mistress, now Queen Camilla, Harry revealed.

His daughter, Lilibet, was born in the US in 2021. "He misses his family... but also his friends, his country of birth," Owens said. "Whilst America has offered them a more peaceful retreat... they've struggled to reinvent themselves in a dynamic way."