Soon after announcing his and Meghan’s decision to quit royal duties in 2020, the Duke of Sussex declared at a charity event: ‘The UK is my home and a place that I love. That will never change.’
Four years later, much, it seems, has changed.
The Daily Mail can disclose that Prince Harry has updated his records in this country to make clear that he no longer lives in Britain.
Filings published by Companies House today for ‘Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex’ record that his ‘New Country/State Usually Resident’ is now the USA. It was previously recorded as the United Kingdom.
The change comes as pressure increases on US President Joe Biden’s government to release Harry’s visa records after campaigners seized on comments made by the American ambassador to London that he would not be deported while the Democrat was president.
Prince Harry, pictured with Meghan Markle at a polo event in Florida on April 12, has listed the US as his primary residence for the first time
The Sussexes’ mansion is worth $14 million (£11m) and has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms
The publicly-viewable document that shows Prince Harry is now based in the United States
The conservative Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington DC, which has gone to court to seek the release of the file, has submitted the remarks made by Jane Hartley as part of its case.
The new details, filed at Companies House for Harry’s eco travel venture Travalyst, also raise serious questions about whether he can remain as a Counsellor of State, one of seven members of the Royal Family who can deputise for the Monarch if he is abroad or unwell.
By law, Counsellors of State are required to have a UK domicile, but Harry has no home here after King Charles asked the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to vacate Frogmore Cottage, a gift from the late Queen Elizabeth.
Dr Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law, said last year: ‘We are really in uncharted waters here: the Prince Harry situation is not something the law easily allows for.
‘The idea of the second son of the King choosing a life away from royal duties is not something the law has thought about, and I can imagine that Buckingham Palace would be concerned by that.
The King had the chance to remove him with the counsellor-of-state legislation last year, but chose not to.’
Until 2022, the Counsellors of State were Queen Camilla, Prince William, Harry, Prince Andrew and his elder daughter Princess Beatrice.
However, many considered this situation unsuitable as Harry, the Duke of York and Beatrice are not working royals.
Harry with Charles at Windsor around the time of the Queen’s funeral
Later that year, the King asked parliament to add his sister, Princess Anne,