The British Monarchy has requested the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, to quit Frogmore Cottage, the couple’s official UK residence.
“We can confirm that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to leave Frogmore Cottage,” the Couple’s spokeswoman told CNN.
The announcement follows a report in the British daily The Sun that stated the couple were being evicted from the Crown Estate-owned mansion, which had now been offered to Prince Andrew, one of King Charles III’s siblings.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement on March 1 that it would make no comment, citing royal sources who indicated it was a private family matter.
Prince Harry and Meghan currently live in the United States, but they have kept the early-nineteenth-century mansion as their UK home.
The late Queen Elizabeth II gave the Sussexes the mansion, which is located in a section of the Windsor estate west of London.
They renovated the house and moved in just in time for the arrival of their son Archie in May 2019. Nevertheless, the makeover generated controversy once the couple retired from public life and it was revealed that £2.4 million (about $3 million) of British taxpayers’ money had been spent on the cottage’s renovations. Following their migration to California, they repaid the public funds.
The removal of a chimney, refinishing the roof, new stairs, fireplace installations, and construction of a new “floating” wooden floor were all documented in planning application documents submitted to the local council. The duke and duchess paid for all fittings, fixtures, and furnishings privately.
When the Sussexes returned to the UK last year, they stayed at the property, including for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee festivities in the summer.
Prince Andrew currently resides close on the Windsor estate in the Royal Lodge. In 2019, the Duke of York resigned down from royal duties after a catastrophic interview about his association with convicted billionaire Jeffrey Epstein enveloped the family in an unprecedented crisis.
According to The Sun, the pair were ordered to leave the property just days after Harry’s memoir “Spare” was released in January.
The 38-year-old royal shattered the public’s picture of him as the carefree, fun-loving party prince, delving into the tragic consequences of his mother’s death, his experimentation with drugs as a technique of coping with loss, and his efforts to find love.
The memoirs followed the couple’s six-part Netflix documentary last year and an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. They said the royal family was “concerned” about Archie’s skin color, described feelings of being “trapped,” and claimed Meghan had suicidal thoughts during her first pregnancy.
