Red Flags In Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Relationship

The romance between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has been a royal love story for the ages. Since meeting in 2016 and marrying in 2018, the couple has always presented a united front. They've stood together even while weathering tough media storms, from the shock around their 2020 decision to leave behind royal duties and relocate to the U.S. to the bombshell 2023 publication of Prince Harry's revealing memoir, "Spare."

This unity is a good sign for celebrity partnerships, but trying to build a marriage under heavy public scrutiny still isn't easy. When Meghan isn't being dinged on lists of embarrassing royal outfit mishaps or facing down racist overtones in U.K. tabloid articles, she and Harry are trying to carve out their own careers away from the royal family. The pressure is immense, so while Harry and Meghan have now been together for years, we can't say for sure that they're out of the woods.

It begs the question: What are Harry and Meghan's biggest challenges right now? To find out what new pitfalls might be plaguing this royal couple, Glam spoke exclusively to celebrity love coach and relationship expert Nicole Moore. Moore walked us through some major red flags hanging over Harry and Meghan, as well as why we might see their relationship experience more rocky periods ahead.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle first left the U.K. for California, they seemed equally motivated. However, headlines have since suggested that Harry regrets the relocation. As royal expert Tom Quinn told The Mirror US, "During his first six months in the States, Harry found everything new and exciting, but the glamor is definitely wearing off. ... Meghan does her best to support Harry, but she is in her natural environment and he is in a strange unfamiliar world, which grows increasingly unfriendly."

In an exclusive conversation with Glam, Nicole Moore agrees that this lifestyle disconnect could place strain on Harry and Meghan's marriage. "Meghan appears to thrive in the California sun, surrounded by powerful Hollywood friends while Prince Harry appears more ill at ease in the spotlight," notes Moore. "As Meghan was an actress before marrying Harry, she likely had a strong desire to live more of a Hollywood life while for Prince Harry, it appears that he's acquiescing to Meghan's dreams rather than them being his own."

Unfortunately, this kind of selflessness isn't always sustainable. "When couples have very different desires for the kind of life they want to lead, it's almost always a huge red flag that means the couple will eventually separate or one partner will have to compromise greatly and give up the life they truly want to stay in the relationship," says Moore. Basically, if Harry isn't happy in their new West Coast life, then something's got to give. One option would be to split their time between California and England, but there are security concerns around Meghan's safety in the U.K., meaning it may be hard for the duo to find a solution that fulfills them both.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry both come from highly successful backgrounds. As an actor, Meghan reportedly earned $50,000 for every episode of the legal drama "Suits" (via ShowBiz Cheat Sheet), and Harry is literal royalty and has a net worth somewhere in the millions (though estimates vary.) However, it seems that the two are struggling to reinvent their careers after the move to America. From short-lived Spotify podcasts and all-over-the-board Netflix programming to Meghan's mysterious home-goods venture, American Riviera Orchard, it seems like Harry and Meghan are grasping at any work opportunity that comes their way.

"Harry and Meghan have had several new and failed career attempts since they've been together, and this must have caused a strain on their relationship," Nicole Moore observes. "Harry and Meghan lead an expensive lifestyle and thus they are in a position where they have to work and make income while also being very public figures who are scrutinized for every move they make. This dynamic is likely to cause a lot of stress both individually and within their partnership."

Adding to the problem, Harry and Meghan's projects have fallen through one after another. Their $20 million Spotify deal went up in smoke after only 12 podcast episodes, and it's been rumored that Netflix will decline to renew the couple's programming deal, which hasn't netted much content for the streamer so far. "It's likely that some of their failed or more criticized endeavors ... have caused financial worry or stress. When couples experience a lot of financial or career stress, it can have a tremendous negative impact on the relationship," Moore exclusively warns Glam. "If they can't find a successful path to stable and reliable income, the work stress may tank their relationship."

Romance is beautiful, but it can also throw wrenches into existing relationships, as seems to be the case with Prince Harry's immediate family. Harry and his brother, Prince William, have reportedly been feuding on and off since as early as 2018 — the year Harry and Meghan Markle married. Reports suggest that William was concerned at the speed of the relationship, and those concerns weren't received well. In the TLC documentary "Kate v. Meghan: Princesses at War?" royal expert Katie Nicholl explained, "I think what was meant as well-intended brotherly advice just riled Harry. ... He interpreted that as his brother not really being behind this marriage, this union, and I don't think things have been quite right ever since" (via Cosmopolitan).

This tension wasn't helped by Harry's decision to write a memoir that doesn't always paint the royals in a positive light. "William was upset by the book — not because of specific depictions, but because of the breach of trust," historian Robert Hardman told News.com.au. "It's tricky, and a situation nobody wants."

Forbidden love and family feuds may seem very "Romeo and Juliet," but remember: That story ends in tragedy. "Ditching family to embark on a romantic love story together sounds great in theory, but ... Harry, especially, misses his family and may regret the choice he made to leave his family so abruptly," observes relationship expert Nicole Moore. Speaking exclusively to Glam, Moore adds, "While Harry willingly chose to leave the U.K. and his royal duties behind, the realities of being alone in the U.S. without his family may be weighing on him and perhaps causing him to subconsciously resent Meghan."

As if the broken trust in the royal family wasn't bad enough, Meghan Markle also contends with some family estrangement as a result of her marriage to Prince Harry. The actor is no longer in contact with her father, Thomas Markle, after he seemed to conspire to have staged photos snapped by paparazzi ahead of her royal wedding. In the years since, Meghan hasn't been in contact with Thomas and hasn't allowed Thomas to meet his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet — despite calling herself a "daddy's girl" in her own childhood.

It's surely an extra relationship weight that all this family drama is directly tied to the couple's romance. Meghan's falling out with her father was a casualty of her sudden rise in fame, which Harry himself acknowledges in their "Harry & Meghan" Netflix series: "She had a father before this. And now she doesn't have a father. And I shouldered that. Because if Meg wasn't with me, then her dad would still be her dad."

Nicole Moore warns that having serious estrangements on both sides of the family could be a major red flag for the health and longevity of their relationship. "When couples don't have a strong family support system, it can put a lot of pressure on the couple," Moore exclusively tells Glam. "They are lacking the village it takes to raise children in an easier way and have more ease in their marriage."

To build a partnership that's healthy for all parties, it's crucial to balance the emotional labor in a relationship. Unfortunately, it seems that Meghan Markle's needs may sometimes force Prince Harry to put his own on the back burner. "For relationships to be healthy, both partners' needs must matter equally; however, at times it appears as if Meghan's feelings matter more in the relationship than Harry's," says Nicole Moore. "In some of the couple's interactions, it does appear that Meghan puts her emotional needs above Harry's, almost pushing his feelings to the side to focus on hers."

Speaking previously to The List, Moore broke down multiple instances of this behavior in the "Harry & Meghan" Netflix documentary, such as Meghan accepting vocal and physical reassurances without offering any in return. Harry even cared for Meghan during Queen Elizabeth II's funeral even though he must have been hurting — after all, it was his grandmother being memorialized.

As the relationship expert exclusively reveals to Glam, this imbalance could spell trouble if it continues unaddressed. "While Harry may see it as his duty to always put Meghan and her safety first, this behavior can also turn into a red flag if it leads to Harry's needs going unmet," says Moore. "Perhaps this couple has established a pattern where Meghan comes first, and it's time to let Harry's emotions take up some space if they want to be in balance again."

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With all the turmoil around Prince Harry's marriage to Meghan Markle, it would be natural for them to have the occasional second thought. But as the pressures mount on Harry — from family estrangements to potential homesickness and continued efforts to prioritize Meghan over himself — it seems like a seed of real resentment could be blooming. "While Harry and Meghan have plenty of moments where they appear very in love and connected, there have also been instances in recent interviews where Harry displayed underlying contempt for Meghan," Nicole Moore exclusively tells Glam. "In a recent interview about the couple discussing their new anti-bullying initiative, Harry jumped in to interrupt Meghan while she was talking and Meghan appeared visibly tense and upset by it."

"In another interview, Harry nearly rolled his eyes while Meghan was speaking and he looked visibly embarrassed by what she was saying," Moore adds. "It appears as if Harry does have some unresolved anger or resentment toward Meghan that he needs to work through." If not? This high-profile couple could be headed to disaster.

"According to relationship researcher John Gottman, contempt is one of the biggest red flags in a relationship, and it signals impending doom," says Moore. "If couples let resentment or contempt simmer, it's very unhealthy for the relationship and can create a toxic dynamic that leads to divorce." In fact, researchers at The Gottman Institute identify contempt as one of the apocalyptic communication styles in their "Four Horsemen" relationship theory, which predicts impending breakups. So, if Harry and Meghan want to mitigate the mounting red flags and maintain their life together, they may need to start by working on their communication — and pronto.