It is almost exactly four years since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made the dramatic announcement that they were quitting as working royals but it seems years earlier, Harry admitted he contemplated leaving to have an ‘ordinary life’

It is more than four years that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the world reeling when they sensationally announced they were quitting their royal roles.

Barely two years after their fairytale royal wedding in 2018, the couple left the UK to set up new lives in California and sign big money deals with the likes of Netflix and Spotify. The shock announcement appeared to come out of the blue – but later, Harry’s long-held frustration at royal life was laid bare in his controversial memoir Spare. And it seems he publicly hinted all might not have been well with his royal role at least three years before so-called Megxit happened.

In an interview seven years ago in 2017, the Duke of Sussex admitted he had once “wanted out” of the Firm and just desired an “ordinary life”. In a chat, later reported in the Mail On Sunday, Harry, then 32, told of his struggles but said he ultimately decided to stick it out thanks to one relative. He reportedly admitted: “I spent many years kicking my heels and I didn’t want to grow up.

“I felt I wanted out but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself,” he added, revealing he was motivated by his loyalty to his late grandmother the Queen. In the same interview, just a year after he met Meghan, Harry also told of his future wishes for him and his children. He insisted: “I am determined to have a relatively normal life and if I am lucky enough to have children they can have one too.”