A royal author has claimed that Prince Harry is ‘bored’ in California, where he moved five years ago with his wife Meghan Markle, and where they are raising their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet

Prince Harry is “bored” by some aspects of living in California, a royal author has claimed.

The duke has spoken positively about his new life in the sunshine of Montecito, where he shares a lavish mansion with his wife Duchess Meghan, and their two children – Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet three. But former friends of his in the UK have apparently admitted that Harry’s life in the States isn’t exactly what he dreamed it might be.

Tom Quinn, author of a new upcoming royal book titled Yes Ma’am, told The Sun: “He just doesn’t have anything to do: from childhood he has been trained to be a royal, attending charitable events and meeting the public and he has thrown all that away.

“Friends say he’s made a decent stab at helping around the Montecito mansion, walking the dog and looking after the children,” the author claimed. “But the truth is he is bored. He can’t leave the mansion without a security detail and the couple’s neighbours – many of whom are far more famous than the royal couple – take little notice when they spot Harry out and about.”

Harry himself has said quite the opposite about his life in California, saying that it affords him far more privacy and freedom for himself and his children allowing him to do things he “undoubtedly wouldn’t be able to do in the UK”.

Speaking at an event in December, Harry said that his new life in America is what his late mother, Princess Diana, would have “wanted” for him and when he was asked if he planned to stay in California for good, he replied that he would. “I very much enjoy living here and bringing my kids up here,” Harry said.

However, the Duke of Sussex has also made it clear that no matter how sure he is that California will always be his family’s home base, he still wants Archie and Lilibet to get to know the UK and spend time in his home country.

He is currently embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with the Home Office over the removal of his automatic police security five years ago. As it stands, Harry is offered a “bespoke” security arrangement, which means the government decides on a case-by-case basis whether or not to provide him with police security. However, Harry and his legal team have maintained that the threats against him and his family have not changed because he is no longer a working royal, so his security should be reinstated.

Harry has said he currently feels unsafe bringing Meghan and the two youngsters to the UK without assured security because private security he can employ would not have the ‘proper jurisdiction or intelligence’ to keep them safe.

The Duke lost the initial rounds of the legal case, with the High Court finding that RAVEC – the committee which decides who gets security – had acted lawfully, but Harry won the right to appeal the decision, which is currently scheduled for April.