Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Officially Move Out of Frogmore Cottage After Being Asked to Vacate Property
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially moved out of their UK residence at Frogmore Cottage, according to palace officials.
Sir Michael Stevens, keeper of the Privy Purse, announced the development during a royal finances briefing, Sky News reported on Thursday. “We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage,” he said.
Stevens added that further details on the couple’s “arrangements” would not be discussed at the briefing. “Safe to say that, as has previously been stated, the duke and duchess have paid for the expenditure incurred by the Sovereign Grant in relation to the renovation of Frogmore Cottage, thus leaving the Crown with a greatly enhanced asset,” he noted.
Frogmore Cottage was built in 1801 during Queen Charlotte’s reign. Located about 25 miles from London, Harry and Meghan, settled into the property in April 2019, nearly one year after their royal wedding. The home underwent extensive renovations as the pair prepared to welcome son Archie, who's now 4.
The Sussexes eventually moved to California after announcing their plans to step down from their roles as senior working royals in January 2020. By the end of the year, Harry had repaid the cost of the cottage’s renovations — an estimated $3.1 million — to the Sovereign Grant.
Us Weekly confirmed in March that King Charles III asked Harry and Meghan to leave the U.K. property. A source exclusively revealed at the time that the request came as “a shock” to the Archewell cofounders.
“There’s nothing they can really do,” the insider added. “Charles could just as easily have kept it open for them if he’d wanted to, but it seems clear he doesn’t.”
According to the source, the king, viewed the move as a “practical” decision since “the Sussexes are so rarely in the home and it needs to be occupied and maintained by a full-time resident.”
Charles — who assumed the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 — “has control and the final say” over who will take up residence at the cottage next. “He feels it would be far more suitable for [Prince] Andrew,” the source told Us. (Andrew stepped down from public-facing duties in 2019 amid sexual assault accusations. He settled his lawsuit in February 2022, one month after being stripped of his royal titles.)
The monarch’s request came shortly after the release of Harry’s memoir, Spare. The book further strained Harry’s already rocky relationship with his father — and may have inspired Charles’ big ask. “It’s not hard to put two and two together and deduce that [Harry and Meghan] lost currency with him as well as the rest of the royals,” the insider told Us.
Following their 2020 exit, Harry and Meghan offered their former home to his cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. Harry briefly stayed at Frogmore upon returning to the UK in April 2021 for Prince Philip‘s funeral.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, US Weekly.
