Frogmore Cottage: Harry and Meghan 'requested to vacate' property

Author: Editors Desk Source: BBC News:

March 2, 2023 at 06:40

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to vacate their British base of Frogmore Cottage, the couple's spokesperson has confirmed.

It was earlier reported that the home, in the grounds of Windsor Castle, had been offered to the Duke of York.

A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan confirmed the news. Buckingham Palace has not commented.

The duke and duchess now live in California with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.

They quit life as working royals in 2020 and left the UK shortly afterwards.

Frogmore Cottage, a Grade-II listed 10-bedroom property in the grounds of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, was a gift to the royal couple from the late Queen.

Prince Harry and Meghan refurbished the property, owned by the Crown Estate, at an estimated cost of £2.4m in 2018-19. The cost was initially covered by taxpayers through the Sovereign Grant before being repaid in full by the duke.

They were reportedly told to leave the property by Buckingham Palace in January, days after Harry published his explosive memoir, Spare.

The book - which was released in January and became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began in 1998 - included claims Prince Harry was physically attacked by his brother, the Prince of Wales. He also wrote that he and his brother, the Prince of Wales, had begged their father not to marry Camilla, now Queen Consort.

Prince Andrew, the late Queen's second son, lives in the nearby 31-bedroom Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire.

He stepped down as a working royal in 2019 after a controversial Newsnight interview about allegations that he had sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.

In February 2022, he paid an undisclosed sum to settle the civil sexual assault case Ms Giuffre brought against him in the US.

Reports in recent weeks, not confirmed by the BBC, suggested the King is to cut Andrew's annual grant which could leave him unable to afford his home's running costs.

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex in New York in September — REUTERS
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex now live in the US with their children

The cottage has a rich and varied history. Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, had it built in 1792 as a place for her and her daughters to escape the court.

At the time it was fashionable for the wealthy to build large homes disguised as idyllic rural cottages.

Surviving relatives of Tsar Nicholas II also lived there after fleeing to the UK, following the murder of other family members by Bolsheviks in 1918.

Since World War Two, the cottage is believed to have been used as a home for members of royal household staff, before Prince Harry and Meghan moved in.