They moved to the USA in 2020. And now Prince Harry is facing the reality of living life as a non-working royal. According to insiders, the Duke of Sussex, 38, is being “run ragged”, as he takes care of their two children – Archie, four, and two-year-old Lilibet – while also trying to secure a business deal to bring in some money for the family. Despite a fruitful beginning to their Hollywood adventure, the couple are struggling to cling onto their assets. Last month, the Duchess, 41, came under fire when it was claimed that the interviews for her now-scrapped podcast Archetypes – which was part of the pair’s £15.7 million deal with Spotify – had been recorded by staff members, and she had just edited her own questions over the top.

“I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation. The F***ing Grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,” a Spotify executive said on his podcast, using American slang for someone who swindles other people through fraud and deception. Their £78 million deal with Netflix is also up in the air, as aside from Harry’s Invictus Games documentary which is set to air next month, no other programming has since been announced. So it’s no wonder that Harry is up half the night worrying.

A source close to the couple tells Closer, “The Prince is starting to really wear out, the poor guy is not used to this kind of stress. He’s totally dedicated to Meghan and giving her as much of a break as he can when it comes to the kids, so he ends up working late a lot of the nights and by the time he gets to bed he’s past tired and can’t sleep. He’s got so much on his mind between all his worries back home and the pressure to save all their content deals, no doubt stress is the reason he can’t sleep. Harry is talking about hiring experts to study his sleep and help him get past this horrible issue.”

While you’d think the life of one of the world’s most high-profile men would be relatively easy, the insider says that Harry’s reality is anything but – and desperately needs a break.

“Harry is in dire need of a vacation, some time where he can unwind and just recharge his batteries, but it simply isn’t an option right now,” they continue. “He’s up to his eyes in domestic chores and business priorities from the moment he wakes until his head hits the pillow late at night – and even then he’ll just lay there spinning about all the many issues that are on his plate.
“He’s tried turning off his iPhone so he doesn’t sit twitching or log onto his emails or texts, which are almost always cause for extra stress especially when he reads the negative things that are being said or written about him. The sad reality is that he’s boxed himself into a corner as far as being totally busy and locked in his own world right now along with Meghan, and that’s really making him fret and feel very alone.”

One of Harry’s biggest worries is his current relationship with his family – especially the fractious situation he’s found himself in with his father King Charles, and brother Prince William. Since quitting life in the UK – in what was termed ‘Megxit’ – Harry and Meghan have made a series of scathing public statements about their treatment from the Duke’s relatives, which also includes his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton.

In their now infamous sitdown interview with close friend Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Meghan cleared up the rumour that she had made Kate cry in the run up to her 2018 wedding to Harry. “The reverse happened,” she said. “A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining to flower girl dresses. And it made me cry. It really hurt my feelings, and I thought in the context of everything else that was going on in those days leading to the wedding, it didn’t make sense to not be just doing whatever everyone else is doing, which was trying to be supportive knowing what was going on with my dad and whatnot.”

While that is sure to have damaged relations in the once tight-knit ‘Fab Four’, in January this year, Harry released his memoir Spare – in which he detailed an incident where he and William had had a physical altercation after he spectacularly lost his cool and called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”. “He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me,” Harry recalled in his book. “It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out. He reiterated the comments in an interview with CBS, adding, “It was a build-up of frustration, I think, on his part.”

But while he may not be their biggest fan, the source says Harry’s split from his loved ones has also contributed to his sleepless nights.

“His biggest stress of all is undoubtedly where he stands with his family,” they continue. “King Charles, his stepmother Queen Camilla and especially his brother are all giving him pretty short shrift and it’s abundantly clear to Harry that he will need to make the first step if that’s going to change. Even if he does back down and give them an apology, which he doesn’t want to do, there’s just no going back as far as having a tight relationship with the House of Windsor – in so many people’s minds he’s a traitor, and a rather pathetic one at that.

“Harry lies awake at night wondering how the hell it’s come down to this, it really bugs him and that’s even before he assesses all the many practical issues that are ahead once he’s up and about. He’s leaning on meditation tools, practising his breathing and doing all kinds of spiritual things to try and relax. But it’s only going so far and sleep is still a major issue right now, to say the least.”