Emotional Homecoming Inside Harry & Meghan's New Life!

The upshot of his decision is sinking in

To put it mildly, it had been a long two weeks. And when an emotional and exhausted Prince Harry finally walked through the door of his Vancouver Island mansion and into the arms of his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, he couldn’t stop the tears rolling down his cheeks.

He was home at last – but at an enormous cost. In one tumultuous fortnight, the once-popular prince had turned his back on everything he’d known since the day he was born: his life as a royal, his country, his family. Now, he was about to start not just a new chapter of his life, but a brand-new book.

“Their reunion was incredibly emotional,” a well-placed insider says. “The heavy burden Harry had felt about telling his family, and the world, was finally off his shoulders.

“He was overcome with emotion when he saw Meghan and there were lots of tears. And Archie kicked his legs and squealed when his dad arrived back, which only made him even more tearful.”

The days after January 8, when Harry and Meghan shocked the world by announcing their intention to pare down their royal duties and spend at least half their time in North America, were nothing short of a roller-coaster ride – particularly for Harry, who in the following days remained in England to thrash out an exit deal acceptable to the Queen.

Becoming part-time royals, as it turned out, was not an option and instead the couple are walking away lock, stock and barrel from their roles as working senior royals and are, instead, suddenly free to make their own way in the world.

“Harry is relieved to finally have all the stress and anxiety over and done with,” tells our insider. “But it’s clear he’s still not completely comfortable with his decision. It’s going to take a while for everything to sink in.”