The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have accepted the King’s decision to ask them to vacate Frogmore Cottage, it has been reported.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly making plans to pack up their remaining belongings at the royal property and ship them to the US, as the keys are understood to have been offered to the Duke of York.
A source close to the couple has said they are “OK” with the King’s decision and are “not fighting it”.
The Times quoted the source as saying: “It is what it is. They are not fighting it. They realise they have a home [in California].
“They have a roof over their heads. They were very privileged to have a second residence. It’s not going to work out for them there, and that’s OK.”
It comes after other sources claimed that Harry and Meghan were “stunned” by the reported plans to move Prince Andrew out of his current residence, the Royal Lodge, and into their former home.
The Sussexes were gifted the 10-bedroom house in Home Park, Windsor, by the late Queen Elizabeth II after their wedding in 2018. After a £2.5 million renovation to transform it into a five-bedroom home, reportedly including a yoga studio and a vegetable garden, they have since used it as their UK residence whenever they are in the country.
They confirmed this week that they were asked to leave their UK home. 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.”
Harry and Meghan live with their two children, Archie and Lilibet, in Montecito, California. Their £11 million mansion was described by The Cutas “the kind of big that startles you into remembering that unimaginable wealth is actually someone’s daily reality”.
The 16-bedroom home reportedly includes a cinema, a gym, spa, tennis court, pool and a separate guesthouse.
The King’s decision to evict the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage comes after the release of Harry’s controversial memoir, Spare.
A royal expert told The Independent that it is “impossible” not to link the move to the book, in which the duke aired his grievances against the royal family. Spare was released after the couple’s Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, aired in December.
RS Locke, a freelance writer and royal commentator, pointed to reports that Harry and Meghan were asked to vacate the property “within days of the book’s release”.
In her opinion, “evicting the Sussex family from Frogmore Cottage is transparently punitive”. Another royal expert, Nigel Cawthorne, said that the King’s move signals that he “clearly… does not want Harry and Meghan coming back to this country”.
Speculation around whether the couple will be invited to the King’s coronation this spring, or if they will accept any invitation to attend, has grown since the latest development.
Harry was understood to be seeking an “apology” from the King and the Prince of Wales before making any commitments to the coronation. He told ITV in an interview before the release of his book that the “ball is in their court”, but the “door is always open” for reconciliation.
