Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially vacated Frogmore Cottage, the royal abode that they had been living in before they gave up royal duties and moved to California. The news of the cottage’s vacancy was confirmed in the palace’s annual Sovereign Grant report released Thursday.
The couple had reportedly been asked to vacate the cottage so that Prince Andrew could move in. Frogmore Cottage, on the grounds of Windsor Castle west of London, had been intended as the couple’s main residence before they stepped back from their royal roles.
The cottage was renovated for $3.2 million, which Harry and Markle repaid in full shortly after finalizing their blockbuster Netflix deal in 2020.
After they left Britain, Prince Harry and Markle said Frogmore Cottage would remain their base when they visited the U.K. However, it is unclear where the couple would stay if they were to visit the U.K. now. Prince Harry previously traveled to London in May, without Markle, for his father King Charles’ coronation. He also made a trip across the pond in June, from their home in California, to take the stand at London’s High Court for his lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror.
Since Prince Harry and Markle left their senior roles as working royals in 2020, they have given insight into why they made that decision in the first place. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared on TV in 2021 for a sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, during which they accused the palace of having concerns over their firstborn son’s skin color.
Markle also revealed that the media scrutiny, which the couple claimed was not handled properly by the royal family, led her to contemplate suicide.
The couple later spoke out about their time as working royals in a docuseries released by Netflix in 2022. Prince Harry followed that up with his memoir, “Spare.” The book detailed the issues in his relationships with his father, King Charles; his brother, Prince William; his stepmother, Queen Camilla; and more.