Harry And Meghan Considered Move To New Zealand During 2018 Visit, Says Dame Patsy Reddy

Aug 05, 2021 by apost team

In January 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made a bombshell announcement, telling the world that they would be stepping back from their senior roles as members of the royal family. A lot has happened since that stunning news last year. Not only have the prince and his wife taken a step back from the royal family, but they also moved to Montecito, California, where Meghan gave birth to Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor on June 4, 2021.

The couple purchased the Montecito mansion for $14 million back in August 2020, after living in Frogmore Cottage together, then in Canada and finally in Southern California. Montecito, which means “little mount” in Spanish, is part of Santa Barbara County, located east of the famous beach town. The small community is known for its good weather, palm trees and the Santa Ynez Mountains.

While the royal couple seem to be settling into life in sunny California, an Aug. 5 report from the Associated Press (AP) revealed that Harry and Meghan considered moving to New Zealand during their 2018 visit to the country. This interesting revelation came from Governor-General Patsy Reddy, Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in New Zealand, who spoke to the Associated Press about the Sussexes visit to the country, along with her current thoughts on the royal family.

The 57-year-old representative is set to leave her symbolic role as the queen’s representative after serving the monarchy for five years. In her position as the queen’s representative, she attends public ceremonies, signs bills into law and meets with groups like New Zealand’s Maori.

According to the AP, Harry and Meghan visited New Zealand in 2018 at the end of a 16-day trip wherein they traveled across the South Pacific. The royal couple was, as one might expect, tired when they arrived, according to Reddy’s recollection. 

“I remember they’d just been down to the Abel Tasman National Park when we sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible. Even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand,” Reddy told the AP.

“Of course, we said ‘Sure. It would be fine. There are lots of opportunities to live in New Zealand, but that would be something that they’d have to explore,’” Reddy added. “They were looking at how they might raise their family. And, obviously, they’ve made some decisions since.”

However, Reddy explained that Harry and Meghan’s interest in moving to the country wasn’t on an official basis, nor was it an official request for help to move there. Rather, Reddy said that the royal couple seemed impressed by New Zealand’s natural beauty and the country’s residents.

Reddy’s revelation is nonetheless notable since it demonstrates that Harry and Meghan were considering a move more than a year before they announced that they would be stepping back from their duties as royals and moving to Los Angeles. The AP also reports that in their controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Harry and Meghan claimed that they had made an offer to the royal family wherein they would move to a Commonwealth country, which includes New Zealand.

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Harry and Meghan also took the Winfrey interview as an opportunity to announce that the couple was expecting a baby girl, whom we now know as Lilibet.

"On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili,” the couple wrote on the Archewell website, announcing the birth of their second child. 

"She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe.”

While Reddy did say that Harry and Meghan “were a lovely couple and I hope they’ve got a great future where they are,” she wouldn’t comment on the Oprah interview or other internal royal family business.

In her interview with the AP, Reddy also spoke to her professional relationship with the queen, which is set to end after a five-year term. While the two keep in touch, Reddy said that correspondence “is quite touchingly old-fashioned, by letter.”

“She has told me on the times that I’ve seen her that she finds it interesting to have a personal perspective on what’s happening,” Reddy told the AP. “As she says, ‘I like to know what’s happening between the lines.’”

Reddy also mentioned Prince Philip’s funeral, an occasion that she said exemplified the royal family’s commendable use of social media in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“So we saw tragically the funeral of Prince Philip, where they could only have 30 mourners,” Reddy said. “But there was no question that there’d be any kind of dispensation, even from the requirements for isolation, when, for example, Prince Harry came back to that funeral.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that Reddy’s successor would be Cindy Kiro, a children’s advocate and the first indigenous woman in the role.

What do you think of the fact that Harry and Meghan were considering New Zealand? Let us know — and be sure to pass this story on to fans of the royal family.