What happened to Harry and Meghan's American dream?

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit working for the Royal Family in 2020 and moved to California, they brought something even Hollywood can't manufacture: royalty.

But while Harry and Meghan enjoyed some success in showbusiness, their Hollywood reign proved short-lived and California has greeted news of their departure back to the UK with a shrug.

In pursuing their American dream, they said they were seeking more than financial independence.

In their 2021 blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan described the freedom to make her own choices as "liberating".

Harry later said America offered his family a degree of privacy and freedom they "undoubtedly wouldn't be able" to enjoy in the UK - and that it was the life his mother, Diana, would have wanted for him.

The couple settled in Montecito - a celebrity enclave a few hours north of Los Angeles with neighbours like Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rob Lowe.

"They were so sought after, they were names that would hit the press and command attention right away," says Stacy Jones, chief executive of Hollywood Branded, a marketing and PR agency.

"There are endless parties, endless events and endless things to do if you are a celebrity inside Hollywood," she says. "But you soon realise that all those endless things are promoting something to sell."