Hold onto your crowns, royal fans – the bombshell we’ve all been whispering about for years has finally exploded.

In a series of astonishing private conversations that have left even the most seasoned palace insiders speechless, Prince Harry has reportedly admitted – in his own words – that his marriage to Meghan Markle is “not what he thought it would be” and that he feels “profoundly lonely” inside the Montecito mansion the couple share.

Sources who have known Harry since childhood, and who still maintain contact despite the bitter family rift, say the 41-year-old Duke has been pouring his heart out in late-night phone calls and encrypted messages over the past six weeks.

One long-standing friend, visibly shaken, told the Daily Mail exclusively: “He actually said the words ‘I think I made a mistake’. Not about loving Meghan – he still says he adores her – but about the life they’ve built. He told me, ‘I gave up everything for this, and sometimes I wake up and wonder if it was worth it.’ I’ve never heard him sound so lost.”

Another insider who was part of the couple’s inner circle during the 2020 Megxit chaos claims Harry has privately confessed he feels “emotionally isolated” in California, trapped between the woman he loves and a gnawing sense that he has “lost himself completely”.

“He said Meghan is his whole world, but that world feels very small sometimes,” the source revealed. “He misses the Army banter, the easy laughter with his old regiment, the feeling of being useful. Out there he’s just ‘Meghan’s husband’. He never says it angrily – more with this heartbreaking sadness, like he can’t believe this is his life now.”

The revelations come just days after Harry flew solo to the UK and South Africa for a whirlwind of engagements – noticeably without Meghan – where royal watchers spotted something they haven’t seen in years: the old Harry. Laughing with soldiers in Lesotho, bantering with veterans, even pulling pintxos in a London pub with old Army mates until the early hours.

One veteran who spent time with him whispered: “He looked ten years younger. Like the weight of the world had lifted the moment he touched British soil. He kept saying, ‘God, I’ve missed this.’”

Meanwhile, back in their £12 million Montecito mansion, sources say Meghan has been “furious” about Harry’s newfound lightness. One Hollywood insider claims the Duchess confronted her husband on his return, demanding to know why he seemed “happier without her”.

“Apparently there was a blazing row,” the source dished. “Meghan allegedly told him, ‘You left your family for me – don’t you dare act like you regret it now.’ Harry just went quiet. That’s when friends say he started opening up about how trapped he really feels.”

Perhaps the most devastating claim of all? Multiple sources say Harry has admitted – in moments of raw honesty – that he sometimes wonders whether he would have been happier if he’d never walked down that aisle in 2018.

“He told one friend he looks at William and Kate with George, Charlotte and Louis and feels this stab of pain,” a source close to both brothers revealed. “He said, ‘That could have been us. Normal. Grounded. Part of something bigger than ourselves.’ Instead he feels like he’s living in a gilded cage where every move is about brand strategy and Netflix deals.”

The couple’s much-vaunted “separation summer” – with Harry travelling to New York, London, Lesotho and Colombia while Meghan stayed largely in California – was meant to be a mature recalibration. Instead, insiders say it has exposed the cracks that six years of unrelenting scrutiny, family estrangement and relentless reinvention have caused.

“Harry thought leaving Britain would fix everything,” one former palace staffer turned confidant told us. “He thought it would be him and Meghan against the world, this great adventure. The reality? It’s him and Meghan… and that’s it. No cousins dropping by. No old school friends. No spontaneous barbecues with William. Just security, NDAs and scheduled content drops.”

Even their children, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, are said to be a source of quiet heartache. “Harry adores being a dad, but he’s devastated they barely know their cousins or their grandfather,” a source claimed. “He told someone close to the royals, ‘I’ve robbed them of their heritage, haven’t I?’”

Friends say the final straw came during Harry’s recent UK visit when he was invited to a private dinner at Clarence House. King Charles, despite his own health battles, reportedly spent three hours with his youngest son – just the two of them – talking until 2am.

“Harry came out in tears,” one eyewitness claimed. “He said it was the first time in years he felt truly seen. Not as ‘the spare’, not as ‘Meghan’s husband’, just as Harry. When he got on the plane back to LA, he apparently turned to an aide and whispered, ‘What the hell have I done?’”

Meghan, meanwhile, is said to be “digging in”. Sources close to the Duchess insist she has no intention of returning to the UK and views any nostalgia for royal life as “emotional manipulation” by the Palace PR machine.

One Montecito neighbour told us: “Meghan’s telling friends Harry knew exactly what he was signing up for. She says if he’s unhappy now, that’s on him – she’s not going back to being ‘controlled’ by the royals.”

As the couple prepare for what was meant to be a glamorous joint tour of Colombia next month, the Daily Mail can reveal it has been thrown into chaos. Insiders say Harry is pushing to scale it back dramatically, telling producers he “can’t face another round of pretending everything’s perfect”.

The most heartbreaking detail of all? One of Harry’s oldest friends claims the Duke recently admitted he keeps a secret photo of the late Queen in his bedside drawer – one taken at Balmoral in happier times – and sometimes takes it out when Meghan is asleep “just to feel close to her again”.

“Harry’s not angry,” the friend said, voice cracking. “He’s just… broken. He thought love would conquer everything. Turns out even love has a price.”

As Montecito’s perfect sun sets over another day of curated Instagram perfection, the question on everyone’s lips is simple: