Prince Harry and Meghan have been "evicted" from Frogmore Cottage, their only official British base, according to an exclusive report by The Sun. A spokesperson for the royal couple has since confirmed that the pair are "stunned" to have been “asked to vacate” the property, which was gifted to them by the late Queen as a wedding present in 2018. The request comes after the pair’s controversial attacks on the royal family, as well as the release of Harry’s autobiography, Spare, in which he openly condemns his father, brother and step-mother, creating a rift between the couple and members of the senior British monarchy...
Though Harry and Meghan have been based at their California mansion since 2020, just prior to their step down from roles as active members of the senior royal family, there has been much speculation as to whether or not they might return to the UK following the death of the Queen. A close source to the couple has said they are "appalled" by the eviction, which means the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not have a single royal residence in the UK. They are now in the process of moving out and will ship the remainder of their belongings from the cottage out to California. This move “surely spells the end of Harry and Meghan’s time in the UK," according to royal commentators.
With Harry and Meghan on the way out, the keys to the cottage have reportedly been offered to Prince Andrew, who is “resisting” the move. Though Andrew currently occupies the nearby 31-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, as-yet unconfirmed reports that the King has significantly reduced Andrew’s annual grant suggest that he may well be unable to continue paying the costs of maintaining the Lodge, necessitating a move to the more modest Frogmore Cottage.
Even before the current upheaval, the contentious cottage boasted a storied past. A 10-bedroom, Grade-II listed property nestled on the grounds of Windsor Castle, it was originally constructed in 1792 by Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, as a place for her daughters to escape court life and their father’s mental illness. The cottage later housed the surviving relatives of Tsar Nicholas II, who fled to the UK after the Bolshevik uprising in 1918, and after World War II, is believed to have been used as staff quarters.
Before taking over the property in 2018, Harry and Meghan invested $2.8 million into renovating the cottage, a cost initially covered by taxpayers through the Sovereign Grant before ultimately being repaid in full by the Duke. While the pair only spent about six months in Frogmore before the infamous ‘Megxit’, Harry has continued to use the cottage on his sporadic trips back to the UK, including during Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021. Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brookshank were also given use of the cottage in autumn 2020, but they have since moved out, splitting their time between Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace and Portugal.
While the story continues to develop, many questions remain unanswered, particularly whether this forced move means that Harry and Meghan will not be receiving an invitation to King Charles’ coronation in May, and whether it is suggestive of an irrevocably deteriorating relationship between Harry and the rest of his family. As William and Kate prepare to move into Windsor Castle in the coming months, we can only guess how the royal family will continue to negotiate a seemingly growing rift. While one royal expert has claimed that Harry "provoked" Charles into taking this step with the release of Spare, a close friend of Meghan's told The Sun that the eviction nevertheless "feels very final, and like a cruel punishment."
Read on to explore the extraordinary homes where Harry and Meghan have lived over the years...
Prince Harry will have fond memories growing up in Kensington Palace. Prince Charles and Princess Diana took up residence in Apartment 8 and 9 in Kensington Palace in July 1981, with Prince William being born in 1982, and Harry arriving two years later. Purchased by William III as a country retreat in 1689, the palace has been home to many royals, including Queen Victoria, and is the London base of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Princess Diana turned the apartments into a happy family home, with the help of interior designer Dudley Poplak. Diana converted the entire top floor into a playroom and two bedrooms, kitted out by luxury children’s design company Dragons. It was here, in Kensington Palace, that she gave her famous post-separation interview to Panorama's Martin Bashir, and planned the New York auction of her dresses just three months before she died.
Kensington Palace was a playground to the toddler prince, who loved to tear around the Sunken Garden, throwing stones and feeding the fish, as revealed by a former royal estate manager in Channel 5 documentary Kensington Palace: Behind Closed Doors. A favorite with his mother Princess Diana, the Sunken Garden held a special place in the heart of Prince Harry and he later chose it as a backdrop when announcing his engagement to Meghan in 2017. He joined his brother Prince William here in July 2021 to unveil a statue celebrating their mother’s legacy.
Charles and Diana split their time between Kensington Palace and their country estate, Highgrove House. Prince Charles bought the Gloucestershire country home in 1980 – the year before he married Diana – and the couple used it as a weekend country retreat. Princes William and Harry also spent much of their childhoods here, and family snapshots show the pair riding a Shetland pony around the grounds, led by their mother (who apparently wasn’t a fan of the nine-bedroom property).
Surrounded by countryside and landscaped gardens, Highgrove House was an exciting place for the young princes, seen here with their parents in the meadow by the house. The estate represented the innocence of childhood, before the Princes became aware of living in the constant glare of the media. While the house now belongs to the new Prince of Wales, it is thought the King will continue to use this much loved property.
Prince Harry’s childhood was cut short soon after this photograph was taken during a summer holiday in Balmoral in 1997, when he was told his mother Princess Diana had died in a car crash in Paris, having been pursued by paparazzi photographers. Unable to deal with her death, the prince struggled through his teenage years and was dubbed the ‘Party Prince’. He went on to date billionaire's daughter Chelsy Davy on-and-off for seven years, having met her in Zimbabwe in 2004 during a gap year between finishing his studies at Eton and starting at Sandhurst.
He eventually found solace in the army, spending 10 years in the armed forces and becoming the first royal in more than 25 years to serve in a war zone. When he announced he would be leaving the army in 2015, according to the BBC, the prince said his time in the military would "stay with me for the rest of my life". This is reflected in his charity work, which includes his founding and chairing of the Invictus Games.
Rachel Meghan Markle enjoyed a far more modest upbringing than her husband. Born on 4th August 1981, and pictured here aged 11 (an image from a video shared on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s official Instagram account), Meghan lived in a two-bedroom property in the Woodland Hills area of LA with her parents Thomas Markle, a TV lighting director, and Doria Ragland, a clinical therapist and yoga instructor, until her parents split when she was two.
After her parents divorced when she was six, Meghan mainly lived with her mother Doria in a top-floor apartment on South Cloverdale Avenue, Mid-Wilshire. The flat was, according to Hello, once the garage and loft space for the main property, but is now estimated to be worth around $1.2 according to Zillow, no doubt in part as a result of the Meghan and Harry connection.
Although modest, the apartment was light and airy and Meghan recalls spending a happy childhood here, as well as at her father's apartment behind the Sunset strip, until she left for college in 1999. “What’s so incredible is that my parents split up when I was two, [but] I never saw them fight," she told Vanity Fair in 2017. "We would still take vacations together. We were still so close-knit.”
An award-winning lighting director, Thomas Markle would often bring Meghan on set, giving her an insight into the entertainment business. After gaining a bachelor's degree in Theater and International Studies at Illinois's Northwestern University, she moved back to Los Angeles and secured her first TV role in General Hospital, making other appearances in CSI:NY and 90210. Her big break would come in 2011, when she landed the role of Rachel Zane in Suits.
In 2011, Meghan married her first husband, Trevor Engelson, an American film producer. While the pair split two years later, this Colonial-style property, in the Hancock Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles, was their marital home together. The impressive mansion, which the couple rented, was Meghan's base when she wasn't filming the TV series Suits in Toronto, Canada.
With its expansive open-plan living areas and every luxury an up-and-coming Hollywood star could ask for, it was a step up from the homes she lived in through her childhood. Meghan moved out following the couple’s break-up in 2013, but there were bigger and better things in store for her.
Meghan spent seven months of the year filming Suits, during which she lived in this discreet modern townhouse in the cool Toronto neighbourhood of Seaton Village. After meeting Prince Harry in July 2016, he also spent time at the home when visiting Meghan in Canada. The property had a detached garage with a back exit to a private lane, which proved handy for avoiding the media when Harry was staying.
One of the most revealing details in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan is that the couple actually met on Instagram, when Harry came across a snap of Meghan with a dog filter through a mutual friend. Harry asked to be connected and after checking out each other’s respective Instagram feeds, they exchanged numbers the following day. A classic tale of boy-meets-girl for the digital age.
The couple also revealed that they enjoyed their first ever date at the fashionable private members club, Soho House, on 76 Dean Street, in central London, during the documentary. The converted Grade ll listed townhouse boasts several cozy corners, including the Library Bar seen here, with its patterned chairs and kilim rugs, where the couple would have been able to get to know one another away from prying eyes.
The laid-back vibe of the club, which boasts a screening room, various bars and drawing rooms, is a popular haunt for well-known individuals looking for a discreet corner to meet. Meghan would usually travel to London to meet the Prince for obvious reasons and the couple revealed in the docuseries they had one last night of freedom at a Halloween party in London before news of their relationship broke in October 2016.
Before she deleted her Instagram account and closed down her lifestyle blog The Tig, in preparation for becoming a royal, Meghan regularly documented her interiors style, showing off her taste in art and blooms, and her two beloved pooches, Guy and Bogart. It is easy to imagine her and Prince Harry relaxing and getting to know each other better in this cozy space before they embarked on the next step of their journey together.
Known as "Nott Cott", Nottingham Cottage holds happy memories for Prince Harry and Meghan. Not only was it their first home together, but the Christopher Wren-designed cottage was also where the prince famously proposed over a roast chicken in November 2017. The cottage was originally a grace-and-favor property for the late Queen and Princess Margaret's childhood governess Marion Crawford, but served as a bachelor pad for Prince Harry from 2013, until Meghan joined him in 2017.
The couple announced their engagement in the Sunken Garden in the nearby landscaped grounds of Kensington Palace, a favorite spot of Princess Diana's. The pair had already been spending plenty of time at the palace estate, and Meghan was reported to have added her own personal touches to the two-bedroom cottage they shared, including items from the Soho Home’s Country House collection.
The couple gave a glimpse inside Nottingham Cottage during their engagement interview with the BBC’s Mishal Husain. The cream couch fit the calming neutral color scheme of the home, as did the white-paneled wall in the background and the lavish gold lamp. During the interview Prince Harry revealed: “The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was a sort of confirmation to me that everything, all the stars were aligned.”
On 19th May 2018, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were married in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where they were given the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The newly married couple had the ultimate royal wedding venue, with pictures taken in the beautiful Green Drawing Room and two receptions in St George's Hall and the Frogmore Estate.
The Georgian-style Frogmore House, in Windsor Castle's Home Park, proved a magical location for the couple’s evening reception for 200 guests – and after two years of closure, the venue opened to the public again in August 2022. A royal residence since 1792, its name derives from the abundance of frogs that inhabit the marshland around the grounds. It is also home to the royal Mausoleum, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are buried.
The couple chose the grounds of Frogmore House and a $75,000 dress by Ralph & Russo, for their engagement photographs, which were taken by fashion photographer, Alexi Lubomirski, in December 2017. Frogmore House is also where Harry’s cousin, Peter Phillips, son of the late Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, held his wedding reception in 2008, and where the Queen Mother spent part of her honeymoon in 1923.
Frogmore Cottage, on the Windsor estate, was gifted to the couple by the late Queen when they married in 2018 – but was loaned to Prince Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and their 15-month-old August Philip when Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal duties. The Prince stayed at the property when he returned to the UK to attend his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021, and when he and Meghan returned for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.
The historic Grade II-listed house on the Frogmore Estate was originally a retreat for Queen Charlotte and her unmarried daughters. Home to many royals over the centuries and later divided into five properties, it was converted back into a large family home for Meghan and Harry at a reported cost of $2.4 million in 2019, an amount the couple have since repaid. It is no longer their official UK residence, despite Prince Harry renewing its lease in 2022, according to The Telegraph.
A stone's throw from Frogmore Cottage, Windsor Castle was where the couple first introduced their newborn son to the media. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on 6th May 2019, and was shown off to the waiting world just two days later in St George's Hall, the location of Meghan and Harry's wedding reception.
In late November 2019, the family spent six weeks in Canada for an extended Christmas break, following their tour of South Africa. They soaked up the beauty of Vancouver Island in this $14 million holiday home. The impressive waterfront mansion in North Saanich, owned by a mystery multimillionaire, is located in one of the most picturesque parts of the large isle.
The four-acre luxury gated property has its own stunning summer house and several acres of gorgeous gardens, so we can see why the couple chose this as their home for the holidays. To top it off, the amazing Canadian mansion overlooks the tranquil water below, making it the perfect scenic escape from their hectic royal lives.
Deciding not to head home for Christmas with the Queen and the rest of the royal family, the couple released this image of Harry and Archie spending time together on a stunning lakefront in Canada on their official Sussex Royal Instagram account. In January 2020, they announced they were stepping back as senior royals to become financially independent, revealing their plans to split their time between the UK and North America.
After their last official day as working royals on 31 March 2020, it was reported that the couple had relocated to Los Angeles. They decided to stay in a huge compound owned by actor and producer Tyler Perry, who they reportedly met through mutual friend Oprah. Tucked away in the Beverly Hills Post Office area of Los Angeles, the luxury mansion sits in the gated community of Beverly Ridge Estates.
Spanning just under 25,000 square feet, the eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom residence, which was custom-built for Perry, was the perfect place to stay while the couple hunted for a more permanent home. Meghan can be seen here reading Archie a story in one of the property's many gorgeous living areas. Just a few months later, they found their current house, where they will raise Archie and Lili.
In May 2020, the couple decided to put up screens around the mansion, after realising hikers could see into their home. The popular hiking route had reopened after Los Angeles' coronavirus restrictions were eased. Like many celebrities in lockdown, the couple's philanthropic projects had to take place online instead. Harry is pictured here in their rental home addressing a virtual global summit for his sustainable tourism project, Travalyst.
Prince Harry and Meghan purchased their current home, Château of Riven Rock, for $14.7 million in July 2020. Nestled in the heart of Montecito in California's Santa Barbara County, public documents reveal that the couple secured a $9.5 million mortgage for the estate. Its previous owner, Russian businessman Sergey Grishin, suffered a loss of more than $10 million in the sale, having bought the house in 2009 for $25.3 million.
On Valentine’s Day 2021, the couple released this black and white photograph of themselves – taken within the lush gardens of the French-style mansion – to announce they were expecting their second child. It was taken remotely by photographer and good friend Misan Harriman, and their newest addition was born on 4th June 2021. She was named Lilibet, which was a family nickname for the Queen, in honour of her great-grandmother.
Built in 2003, the amazing American estate offers a grand total of nine bedrooms and 16 bathrooms. The country-style master suite features a wooden-beamed ceiling, an ensuite bathroom and access to a private balcony with an ivy-covered pergola. Jam-packed with the most luxurious amenities, the home includes a library, gym, sauna, home cinema and lift, as well as well as a children’s cottage and playground area.
Giving a glimpse into the couple's home life, in May 2021 Prince Harry released a trailer for his series The Me You Can't See, which sees him filming his own therapy sessions and chatting with their good friend, Oprah Winfrey. Meghan appears briefly alongside her husband in a corner of their shared home office, which reveals only paneled walls, black-framed windows and part of the huge stone fireplace.
Meghan revealed a further glimpse of her home when she released a video announcing a new initiative on the Archewell website, around the time of her 40th birthday in August 2021. Sitting in her office in front of a gorgeous stone fireplace and a large wooden desk, her stylish taste is evident in the neutral tones and choice of natural materials.
The incredible backyard features a tiered rose garden, an alfresco terrace and a large swimming pool, flanked by picturesque olive trees and Italian cypress trees. A full-size tennis court and a detached guesthouse are also found across the estate, ideal for hosting family and friends.
A stone's throw from the ocean and a two-hour drive from downtown Los Angeles, the laid-back neighbourhood is also home to Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres, who are friends of the couple.
Prince Harry and Meghan rocked the royal family to its core when they granted a tell-all interview to Montecito neighbour, Oprah, at her home in March 2021. The couple laid bare their rift with The Firm and accused an unnamed member of the Royal Family of racism, suggesting the relative had asked "how dark" their son would be. They also revealed the Palace had failed to support a deeply unhappy Meghan. With Harry's tell-all memoir due to publish in January 2023, it will be interesting to see what else the former senior royal has to reveal.
There was much speculation surrounding the couple’s return to Britain for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The pair kept a low profile but attended the service of thanksgiving for the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul's Cathedral. It was hoped their problem-free visit would pave the way for more understanding between the Prince and his family in the future.
Central to their visit was to introduce their daughter Lilibet to the late Queen, in whose honour she was named. Lilibet is said to have met her great-grandmother at a special lunch. The couple released a charming shot of Lili on their Instagram to mark her first birthday, which was celebrated at Frogmore Cottage.
Privacy and security have long been issues for the couple, with The Express reporting that Harry has won a bid to bring a High Court challenge against the Home Office, concerning his UK security arrangements. The legal action is over a decision not to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family when visiting from North America after he stepped back from royal duties in 2020.
The Prince raises his security concerns in the Netflix docuseries, where he claims he and Meghan were victims of “institutional gaslighting”, suggesting ‘people’ were happy to protect his brother but not him. Meghan adds, “Our security was being pulled, everyone in the world knew where we were,” although former private secretary to the late Queen, Dickie Arbiter, told The Mirror, their security was taken away because they were moving to America.
The couple’s security at home is also challenging, as police were alerted to two intruder scares at Harry and Meghan’s Montecito home during a 12-day period in May 2022, The Sun reported. The couple and their two children were believed to be at home when the alarms were triggered. Police records show there have been six security alert calls to their US home in the past 14 months, with both May calls logged as “trespasser”, “property crimes” and “suspicious circumstances”.
On the 8th of December, 2022, the highly anticipated Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan was finally released, giving the couple the chance to tell 'their' version of their story. The six episode series goes behind the scenes with the royal pair, featuring intimate family footage, clips from Harry and Meghan's personal video diaries, and interviews with the couple in their Montecito home. The Netflix series does give viewers an intimate glance into the home and private lives of these renegade royals, featuring beautiful shots of the young family enjoying life in their Montecito mansion. Whether viewers empathize with Harry and Meghan's bid for freedom or are disappointed by their publicity-seeking choices, most must agree that the southern California retreat is a gorgeous escape.
The show may have widened the existing rift between Harry and King Charles. The doc includes interviews with the couple and their friends, as well as unseen footage covering a range of topics, from their difficult relationship with the media to the Royal Family’s handling of press articles about Meghan. The first episode was, according to the BBC, seen by 2.4 million people on its launch day in the UK alone, more than doubling the first-day figure for the latest series of The Crown. Viewers will be forgiven for thinking the swanky backdrop to the couple’s sit-down interview was their own Montecito house, but they'd be wrong...
The interviews were actually filmed inside this magnificent mansion, which lies close to the couple's family home. It's currently for sale for a cool $33.5 million, that's three times the value of the $11 million home the couple bought in 2020. Perhaps due to the property's scale and price tag, it's been on the market for some time. In fact, it was first listed in August 2021 for the same amount, showing that the current owners clearly aren't willing to compromize on price.
The perfect setting for a very exclusive interview, the property is extremely private and its interior is chic and calming, thanks to neutral tones and a blend of modern and traditional elements. In fact, it isn't dissimilar to the stylish interiors at the couple’s Montecito home, which Meghan described as ‘healing’ when speaking to The Cut. This still from the docuseries shows Meghan in the main living room, with her back to the incredible ocean scenery. The pair will need a sanctuary as they deal with the storm around the docuseries, and the Prince’s new memoir, Spare, which is expected to include bombshell revelations including a leaked alleged incident between William and Harry.
Meanwhile, thoughts are now on King Charles’s coronation on 6 May 2023. Some political heavyweights, according to the Daily Express, feel the couple should not be invited following the TV series and Harry’s memoir. “If they dislike the Royal Family so much, why would they attend?” said ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith. With diminishing hope of a reconciliation between the families, Harry and Meghan are more committed than ever to their long-term future in America. We will all be watching with interest...
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