The Princess Royal convinced the King to move the Duke and Duchess of Sussex out of Frogmore Cottage, a new book about the royal family claims.
The book Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, by royal commentator Omid Scobie, takes a deep dive into the institution and its future.
Endgame is said to claim that Princess Anne was “at the forefront of the supporters of the firm approach” taken with the Sussexes, who resigned from their positions as senior members of the royal family in 2020.
According to The Telegraph, Scobie writes that Anne “is said to have persuaded Charles to withdraw the use of Frogmore Cottage” from the couple, the use of which was a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth II.
Though the Sussexes left the UK for a new life in Canada, then Montecito, California, in early 2020, they still had items in the cottage as recently as early 2023.
Princess Anne— (Getty Images)
However, shortly after the release of Harry’s memoir Spare in January, Sir Michael John Stevens, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, sent a letter to the Sussexes’ team pushing them to complete their exit from the Windsor property.
The letter stated that because the Duke and Duchess were no longer working members of the Royal family and lived abroad, they should return the keys to Frogmore Cottage.
In June, Sir Michael confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had vacated Frogmore Cottage at the annual Sovereign Grant account briefing on royal finances.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex— (Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Gala)
“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 added.
In 2019, royal accounts showed Meghan and Harry paid £2.4 million to cover the refurbishment and rental of Frogmore Cottage, on the Home Park Estate, a property they have only used a handful of times since relocating to the US.
A palace official said there was nothing to add in relation to who would live in the cottage in the future.
Elsewhere in the book, set for release next week, Harry is said to have asked his father: “You don’t want to see your grandchildren any more?”
