LONDON – Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are being evicted from their home on the British royal family’s Windsor estate, leaving them without a base in Britain, reports said on Wednesday.
The use of Frogmore Cottage was a wedding present from the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2018. The couple refurbished it at a reported cost of £2.4 million (S$3.9 million).
It has now been offered to Prince Andrew, King Charles III’s disgraced brother, said reports in The Sun and Daily Telegraph.
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were reportedly told in January to vacate the property, just days after the publication of the prince’s tell-all memoir Spare.
Prince Harry’s father, King Charles, who has long favoured a slimmed-down monarchy, has been undertaking an overhaul of family finances since his mother’s death last September.
A possible axing of Prince Andrew’s £250,000-a-year grant could see him forced out of his current residence – the 30-room Royal Lodge, which is also on the Windsor estate – due to its massive upkeep costs.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s unofficial biographer Omid Scobie, quoting a source, wrote on Yahoo News that the couple had “until early summer to vacate”.
“Initially, they were given just weeks, but now they have at least until after the coronation” in May, he said, adding the couple have not yet heard if they will be invited to King Charles’ crowning.
Mr Scobie also quoted a friend of the couple as saying: “It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment. It’s like (the royal family) wants to cut them out of the picture for good.”
Prince Harry and Meghan moved to California in 2020 after dramatically quitting royal life.
They have since taken part in a string of projects – from an interview with Oprah Winfrey to a Netflix documentary – airing grievances about their experiences as royals.
Spare smashed sales records when it was published in January, but also saw the prince’s popularity ratings slump on both sides of the Atlantic.
Prince Andrew was forced out of public life over his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In 2022, he settled a US civil case for sexual assault with his accuser, Ms Virginia Giuffre. AFP
