The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed that they have been been asked to “vacate” their UK home, just weeks after Harry’s damning book Spare was released. Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson said a “request” had been made for the Sussexes to give up Frogmore Cottage close to Windsor Castle.
Reports have claimed the move was sanctioned by the King and it will remove their remaining foothold in the UK and further weaken ties with the royal family. The decision is likely to be interpreted as a major rebuke by Charles to his son, who since moving to North America in 2020 has criticised the monarchy and individuals within the institution alleging racism and a lack of support.
With the couple’s permanent UK base now gone, there will be speculation about whether they will receive an invite to the King’s coronation on May 6. A spokesperson for the couple said: “We can confirm the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage.”
Omid Scobie, one of the authors behind the biography of Harry and Meghan, Finding Freedom, the King's decision came after Harry released his controversial memoir Spare in January. He claims the Sussexes were told the property was needed for "someone else" - and that relations between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the Firm was at "an all-time low" - reports The Mirror.
"It's news, sources tell me, that has left Harry and Meghan stunned, and at least two members of the Royal Family 'appalled'," Mr Scobie wrote for Yahoo.
He claimed a source said Harry and Meghan have been given until the summer, after the Coronation, to remove their belongings. However, it was alleged they initially told they would just be given two weeks.
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And quotes a friend of the couple as saying: "It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment. It’s like [the family] want to cut them out of the picture for good."
Mr Scobie quotes a friend of the couple as saying: "It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment. It’s like [the family] want to cut them out of the picture for good."
The move comes after Harry’s controversial autobiography was released in January which claimed the duke’s brother, the Prince of Wales, physically attacked him and that Charles put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of Meghan. Reports of a fractious friendship between Meghan and the Princess of Wales were confirmed in Spare, with Harry recounting how the princess, pregnant at the time with Prince Louis, said she was owed an apology from his wife who had previously commented Kate was suffering from “baby brain” due to her “hormones”.
In a series of interviews to promote his memoirs, Harry gave an unflinching assessment of the Queen Consort, but also sympathised with the royal – describing her as not an “evil stepmother” in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America. The duchess said in an interview with The Cut magazine published last year, that “just by existing” she and Harry were “upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy” before they stepped down as working royals in 2020.
The first, in-depth details about their troubled relationship with the royal family were revealed in a dramatic interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. Meghan and Harry laid bare their brief life as a working royal couple alleging a member of the family – not the late Queen or Duke of Edinburgh – made a racist comment about their son, and how the duchess had suicidal thoughts but her approaches to the monarchy for help were turned down.
Frogmore, a Grade-II listed property which is owned by the Crown Estate, was a gift from Harry’s grandmother, the Queen. In 2019, royal accounts revealed Meghan and Harry paid £2.4 million to cover the refurbishment and rental of Frogmore Cottage, on the Home Park Estate at Windsor Castle, a property they have only have used a handful of times since relocating to the US.
The couple were funding the general up-keep of their former home, like maintaining the garden, and were continuing to pay rent, a rental contract described as a “good deal” for the taxpayer by a senior palace source in 2022. Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her family, are thought to be staying at the property that underwent major work to turn five properties back into a single residence for the Sussexes.
The Sun first reported Charles was “evicting” the couple from Frogmore Cottage and claimed it had been offered to the Duke of York. But with the property being substantially smaller than Andrew’s Royal Lodge home. which he shares with ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, a move is unlikely. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
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