‘Stormy night’: How a Vancouver Island escape led to Harry and Meghan’s split with the Royal Family

In his memoir out Tuesday titled Spare, British Prince Harry talks about the “taste of freedom” he and wife Meghan Markle experienced when they snuck away to a remote sanctuary on Vancouver Island — and how that moment of peace got them thinking about a more permanent escape from being hounded by the “paps” of the British press.

“Meg and I discussed getting away, but this time we weren’t talking about a day at Wimbledon or a weekend with Elton,” writes Harry in the chapter focused on their B.C. escape.

“From morning to night we didn’t have to give a thought to being ambushed. The house was right on the edge of a sparkling green forest, with big gardens where Archie and the dogs could play, and it was nearly surrounded by the clean, cold sea,” he writes. “I could take a bracing swim in the morning. Best of all, no one knew we were there. We hiked, we kayaked, we played — in peace.”

They worried the quiet would be shattered when they had to go into town for supplies, but Harry and Meghan discovered that Canadians were much more chill about their presence than the hungry paparazzi back home.