Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have broken their silence and confirmed that they’ve been asked to leave their home in the UK.
A spokesperson for the couple said in a statement: “We can confirm the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage.”
The statement comes amid claims that King Charles III offered the keys of the cottage to the Duke of York. Reports have also said that Harry and Meghan are making plans to remove their remaining belongings from the home.
Although they currently live in Montecito, California, with their two children, Archie and Lilibet, the pair have maintained the Frogmore Cottage as their UK residence.
It is not known if the request for the couple to vacate will affect their chances of being invited to the King’s coronation this spring.
The Independent has contacted a representative for Meghan and Harry for comment.
Prince Andrew will be moving out of his current residences at the Royal Lodge, according to The Sun. Though, a source told the publication that he’s “resisting” being removed from the the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, which he has occupied since 2003.
The source also claimed that the Duke and Duchess’ eviction from the space “surely spells the end of Harry and Meghan’s time in the UK”.
Sources claim that the couple are “stunned” by the King’s reported decision to move Andrew into the the cottage, as reported by Yahoo! News. The sources also alleged that two members of the Royal Family are “appalled” by the decision.
“It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment,” a friend of Meghan and Harry told the publication. “It’s like [the family] want to cut them out of the picture for good.
Harry and Meghan have used Frogmore Cottage as their official home base when visiting the UK since 2019. They first received the space as a gift from the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2018 after their royal wedding.
They have also done renovations on the cottage using £2.4 million of taxpayer’s money, but have since paid it back in full by making a contribution to the Sovereign Grant.
The couple’s statement about the UK home comes two months after Harry released his tell-all memoir, Spare. In the book, he made many allegations about the royal family and talked openly about how British publications portrayed him and his wife in a negative light.
He also wrote about his strained relationship with his brother, Prince William. One of the biggest revelations from the book was that he got in a physical fight with the Duke of Cambridge. Harry claimed that his brother “grabbed [him] by the collar” and “knocked [him] on the floor”. He said that he then landed a dog bowl, “which cracked under [his] back” with “pieces cutting into [him]”.
Leading up to his book’s release, Harry also spoke out a potential reconcilliation with some of his family members after stepping down from his royal duties in 2020. During an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, he said that while he’d like to reconnect with his father and brother, they’ve shown “absolutely no willingness to reconcile” with him and Meghan.
“I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back,” he said. “They feel as though it’s better to keep us somehow as the villains.”
According to recent reports, the Duke of Sussex is now seeking a private apology from the Prince of Wales and the King before he makes any commitment to attend his father’s coronation.
One source told The Times that while Harry and Meghan are expected to be invited to the coronation, it most likely won’t “be wrapped in an apologetic bow”.
