THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex asked the Queen’s representative in New Zealand about moving there less than six months into life as a working royal couple.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke to governor-general Dame Patsy Reddy during their 2018 trip to New Zealand and inquired whether it would be “theoretically possible” to live there.

The Sussexes’ ideas about moving to a Commonwealth country were first publicly shared during their bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, when Meghan revealed they considered New Zealand, South Africa and Canada as potential homes.

Recently, Dame Patsy revealed details about her discussions with the Duke and Duchess in an interview with the Associated Press, ahead of the governor-general stepping down from her post in October when her five-year term ends.

She recalled the couple were tired and said she remembers they’d been to the Abel Tasman National Park when they hinted at the idea of a permanent or temporary stay in New Zealand.

“We sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible,” she said.

“Even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand.

“Of course, we said, ‘Sure. It would be fine’. There are lots of opportunities to live in New Zealand, but that would be something that they’d have to explore.

“They were looking at how they might raise their family. And obviously they’ve made some decisions since.”

Harry and Meghan had visited New Zealand in October and November 2018 - the last stop in a 16-day royal tour of the South Pacific.

Dame Patsy said she did not view it as a formal request for assistance but more of an informal discussion about the couple’s hopes for the future.

She said the pair seemed impressed with access to the outdoors and their interactions with New Zealanders.

The Sussexes’ decision to leave the UK was effectively made a year after their New Zealand trip when they travelled to North America for a break in autumn 2019 and never permanently returned.

The governor-general was also asked about her relationship with the Queen and said she regularly expresses her confidential views of what is happening in New Zealand with its head of state, such as the nation’s response to the pandemic.

She said the communication “is quite touchingly old-fashioned, by letter”.

“She has told me on the times that I’ve seen her that she finds it interesting to have a personal perspective on what’s happening.

“As she says, ‘I like to know what’s happening between the lines’.”

New Zealand has a special connection to the monarchy because its founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed by Māori and a representative of Queen Victoria.

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