‘Different goals’, family feuds & ‘nothing in common’… can embattled Harry & Meghan survive the dreaded 7 year itch?

THEY shared a look of love on their wedding day in 2018 and have been through enough drama since to last a lifetime.
Fast forward to earlier this month and Harry and Meghan appeared as close as ever as they piled on the PDA watching Beyonce perform in Los Angeles.
But in business, it seems the couple may have entered the era of the dreaded Seven Year Itch, as their careers head in different directions.
And today, on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s seventh wedding anniversary, insiders admit to The Sun that the pair have gone on a so-called “professional separation”.
But they also insist loyal Harry “never looks at another woman” and say they would be “stunned” if the couple ever split romantically.
Nevertheless, they do seem to have different goals, with former Suits actress Meghan dreaming of the high life, believing she deserves it for marrying a prince.
An insider said: “Meghan wants to be a billionaire and a celebrity, whereas Harry would be happy having a quiet life and just popping out to do his charity events.”
Millions rejoiced as King Charles led Meghan down the aisle on May 19, 2018 to marry his youngest son.
And hardly a chance is missed for the couple to share their perfect life, whether through carefully curated “date night” Instagram snaps or Meghan telling a podcast that her hubby is a “fox”.
Meanwhile, Harry grows increasingly estranged from Britain and his family amid defeat in his High Court battle to overturn a protection downgrade since their 2020 “Megxit”, when he and Meghan quit as working royals to live in the US.
A recent shock BBC interview immediately after the legal loss, in which Harry hinted his father could resolve his security issues, no doubt dealt a further blow to any prospect of reconciliation as the Monarch juggles royal duties with a cancer diagnosis.
Insisting he cannot see how Meghan and his children could ever return to the UK, Harry claimed: “There is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hands. Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him.”
At the same time, Meghan’s podcast and cookery endeavours are being widely lampooned.
Harry’s behaviour is unlikely to endear him to royal relatives or the public. In fact, a recent YouGov poll shows that only disgraced Prince Andrew is less popular than the California couple.
Earlier this year, Harry and Meghan looked inseparable amid a supportive crowd in Canada at the Duke’s Invictus Games — yet the Duchess jetted home early, leaving her hubby to spend Valentine’s Day alone. An insider said behind the scenes it seemed “tense”.
I saw first-hand, at the 2023 Games in Dusseldorf, Germany, how the atmosphere in Team Sussex was far more relaxed before Meg arrived halfway through.
Last September, Harry spent his 40th without her as he went hiking with friends, although sources close to the couple insist it was Meghan who organised the trip.
When the couple travelled to Colombia for a faux royal tour last year, it was branded the 'Meghan show', with Harry often playing second fiddle.
And while the Prince has raked in millions by revealing family conversations and secrets in his best-selling memoir, Spare, Meghan has become a “mumpreneur”, with a string of major launches, from a cookery show to a jam-selling business.
Sources have insisted it is normal for couples not to spend all their time together, but added: “It can appear they have very little in common in what they like or want. They are very different.”
When the couple travelled to Colombia for a faux royal tour last year, it was branded the “Meghan show”, with Harry often playing second fiddle.
He made one fleeting, awkward appearance in the final episode of his wife’s much-derided cookery show, With Love, Meghan, appearing every inch a “Spare”.
In fact the lovebirds are rarely seen out unless to visit friends or host dinner parties. Recently, they cosied up to Brooklyn Beckham and his wife Nicola Peltz, apparently bonding over their shared bitter family feuds.
And Harry’s closest friends in California are said to be the husbands of Meghan’s pals.
Since launching an Instagram page five months ago, the Duchess frequently shares her picture-perfect life with her three million followers.
On their recent Beyonce gig “date night”, photos portrayed a happy A-list celebrity couple as secure today as they were when Charles walked Meghan down the aisle.
In carefully curated concert photos, Meg was seen draped over her grinning husband, who revealed his hat on the night was inscribed with loving tributes. But as everyone who has ever used Instagram knows, it is the social media of choice to display an overly “perfect” lifestyle.
Sources do point out the pair are devoted, loving parents to Archie, six, and three-year-old Lilibet. But it seems the youngsters may never again see either of their grandfathers.
Meghan has not spoken to her dad, Thomas Markle, since he posed for paparazzi pictures ahead of her wedding. He now lives 7,000 miles from Montecito in the Philippines.
And Harry’s ill-advised decision to hurl wild accusations about the King to the BBC, just minutes after Palace sources told The Sun they believed there could be a way back for the couple, likely torpedoed any reunion.
On recent trips back to the UK, the moaning Duke has dropped in at a pal’s house to have a Deliveroo and was caught on doorbell cameras knocking at multiple homes saying he was “looking for a friend”.
In 2027, Harry’s Invictus Games are being hosted in Birmingham. But unless there is a radical change to how he perceives his security risk in the UK by then, it seems unlikely Meghan will be by his side.
Having no communication with his father, or older brother, William, Harry is becoming an isolated figure.
The work separation has seen Meghan clutching at so many different business ventures, it seems as if she is trying to grasp hold of any plan that might work.
She chose fame, having always dreamed of being an actress, and enjoys sharing her lifestyle and children with the world — though she keeps Archie and Lilibet’s faces hidden in film and pictures.
Meanwhile, life in the limelight was forced on Harry due to his royal heritage and, following the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, he has said the sound of photographers’ cameras makes his “blood boil”.
In his latest controversial BBC interview, he claimed: “I was born into this position — it wasn’t a choice”. Both he and Meghan have given up much from their past, with Harry saying farewell to royal duties and the people of the UK who forgave his youthful indiscretions as he pursued a more discreet family life in Montecito.
Elsewhere, with her acting career shelved, Meghan is championing her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
Despite begging for privacy and blaming the Press for their problems, both have flocked to the media when they want to get a message out.
Speaking two weeks ago to podcaster Jamie Kern Lima, the Duchess was gushing in her description of her hubby.
Asked if she would be married to Harry forever, she replied, “Yes”, adding, “He’s also a fox, if you haven’t noticed.
"My husband’s very, very handsome. But his heart is even more beautiful.”
She went on: “That man loves me so much and, you know, look what we’ve built.
"We have built a beautiful life and we have two healthy, beautiful children. I always think . . . at the end of Super Mario Bros, the final level, what’s the goal in Super Mario?
"It’s to slay the dragons and save the princess.”
Harry never looks at another woman. He never checks anyone else out. I’d be stunned if they ever parted.
Royal insider
The knight in shining armour role is one Harry has always revelled in, explaining in his six-part Netflix series that he has promised to protect Meghan as far back as their third date, when he took her to the Botswana bush.
He stuck to that vow when their royal dream turned sour, saying that he did not want “history to repeat itself” after Princess Diana was pursued by photographers before her fatal car crash.
Now, Harry gets to save his princess over and over again.
Despite the many challenges the couple face — mostly of their own making — the rumours of trouble in paradise appear to be just that — rumours.
One insider told The Sun: “Harry never looks at another woman. He never checks anyone out. I’d be stunned if they parted.”
There have always been whispers that, one day, this drama-seeking royal marriage will fail and Harry will be back with his tail between his legs begging the UK and his family for forgiveness.
Yet there is no desire for the Prince to return to any royal duties and the “half-in, half-out” suggestion raised by the Sussexes before Megxit remains completely off the table.
In 2022 Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, the Duke said: “This is a great love story, and the craziest thing is that I think this love story is only getting started.”
But he added of his wife: “She sacrificed everything she ever knew — the freedom that she had — to join me in my world. And then pretty soon after that, I ended up sacrificing everything that I knew to join her in her world.”
The question, as the couple enter Seven Year Itch territory, is how far through their love story are they — and were the sacrifices worth it?
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