Prince Harry said in a Zoom call on Saturday, August 29, that he would have been back home to England if not for the coronavirus pandemic.
The Duke of Sussex, 35, joined the video call to host a quiz with staff and volunteers from the Rugby Football League to mark the sport’s 125th birthday.
The prince could be seen sitting near a window in his new Montecito, California, mansion, with a stone fireplace to his side, as he spoke to the players, coaches and volunteers.
“We’ve got a whole rugby league World Cup coming next year,” he said of the event set to take place in England at the end of October 2021. “I definitely plan on coming back. I would have been back already had it not been for COVID.”
He also joked that if he’d been taking part in Saturday’s video quiz, he “would have had the rest of my family on the other side of my family.”
Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, announced their plans in January to step down as senior royals and split their time between North America and the U.K. They initially stayed on Vancouver Island, Canada, but after making their final appearance in the U.K. alongside Prince William and Duchess Kate in March, the couple and their 15-month-old son, Archie, moved to L.A.
The family lived in Tyler Perry’s mansion before buying their own place in Santa Barbara.
Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie claimed on his “Heirpod” podcast that Harry and Meghan, 39, will be spending “an extended period of time in the U.K. next year.”
“In March, we have the Invictus Games, which has been rescheduled, in the Hague. In June, we have Trooping the Colour, which I imagine Prince Harry and Meghan would like to still be at, and July 1, we have the unveiling of the [Princess Diana] statue,” the royal expert said.
Harry and his big brother, 38, whose relationship has been strained in recent months, released a rare joint statement on Friday, August 28, revealing that they will be installing a tribute to their late mother in the Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace on July 1, 2021, which marks Diana’s 60th birthday.
“The Princes hope that the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on their mother’s life and her legacy,” the pair said in their statement.
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