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Harry and Meghan reportedly split over where to spend Christmas after UK move

An unnamed source quoted by Heat magazine claims Prince Harry wants to stay in the UK for Christmas while Meghan would rather return to the US. The claim is unverified and relayed by two left-leaning UK outlets.

2 outlets · 2L · 0C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Daily Mirror
Image: Metro

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The story, neutrally told

Left · 2The Daily Mirror and Metro report, citing a source quoted by Heat magazine (Heatworld in Metro's account), that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are 'not on the same page' about where to spend Christmas after moving back to the UK. Left · 2The Mirror says the couple moved back from Montecito, California, in late August; Metro says it has been just over a month since the move, and that they left London for the US in January 2020 when they stepped down as senior royals. Left · 2The source says that with their children in school the couple 'can't keep bouncing between California and the UK whenever they feel like it', so they face 'difficult decisions'.

Left · 2Harry is said to want to stay in the UK for Christmas, one of his favourite times of year; Metro's source adds he worries that travelling to the US would look like 'giving up' and missing time with his father, King Charles III. Left · 2Meghan is said to be homesick and to miss her friends, her routine and her mother, Doria Ragland, with whom she reportedly speaks daily; she is also said to be reluctant to spend Christmas 'making small talk' with the royal family. Left · 2Both outlets note it is not known whether the Sussexes have been invited to Sandringham, the King's Norfolk estate where the royal family typically spends Christmas; the Mirror says Meghan is discouraged by waiting for an invitation that may never come.

Left · 2Both outlets link the move to a row over royal titles and security concerns that reportedly led the couple to change their children's school; Metro says the children are now settled in new schools. Left · 1Metro adds that celebrity reporter Rob Shuter said on his YouTube show that two royal sources told him Harry and Meghan will meet the King before Christmas; he did not know where or when. Metro says the King first saw his grandchildren in four years at Highgrove in July. Left · 2The Mirror notes Meghan shared a video in September of the children in the woods and Harry fishing, and that the couple were seen at The Falkland Arms pub in Great Tew, Oxfordshire; Metro says they live in the Cotswolds and reportedly plan to stay for an 'extended' period.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left2 outlets

Framing
Both outlets run the story as celebrity gossip relayed from Heat/Heatworld, framed as 'trouble in paradise' over Christmas, with the Mirror also stressing earlier difficulties with the move.
Emphasis
Harry's attachment to Christmas in the UK versus Meghan's homesickness; the Sandringham invitation question; Metro adds a possible pre-Christmas meeting with the King.
Leaves out or plays down
No comment from the couple or palace; the source is anonymous and unverified; no right or centre outlets have covered it.
Charged language
“not on the same page”“trouble in paradise”“far from seamless”
For example
“their move has been far from seamless after a row over their royal titles and security worries” — Daily Mirror
“it could soon be trouble in paradise for Harry and Meghan” — Metro

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.