Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (open in new tab) have had a very productive year. After the royal abdication, the couple moved across the Atlantic to North America (open in new tab), moving several times before settling into their final home in Montecito, California (open in new tab). Of course, this would be stressful enough, but Harry and Meghan have been unable to visit Harry's family in England (open in new tab) for the past few months because they made a major life change in the midst of a global pandemic.

Still, through it all, the couple is thriving, as Omid Scobie (open in new tab), co-author of Finding Freedom, writing in Grazia magazine (open in new tab), describes the Sussex couple's year. 'To be where they are now, having launched their empire and charity in just over nine months, shows how hard they have worked to make this transition a success, but there was a lot of hard work to get to this point. The journey has been painful."

Part of that pain comes from the isolation Harry and Meghan (open in new tab) experienced. In addition to being separated from the rest of the royal family, the couple was apparently left by a key staff member early in the transition.

According to the Daily Mail (opens in new tab), "It was just hard," a friend of Meghan's told Caroline Durand (opens in new tab), the other half of the "Finding Freedom" writing team. 'Their nanny moved back to England when they moved to LA because of the pandemic, and they felt pretty alone because of the restrictions. With each move they felt more alienated.

Now, of course, Harry and Meghan are reportedly (open in new tab) much more settled. A source recently said (opens in new tab) that the couple has "no regrets" about leaving the royal family.