Prince Harry, Meghan Markle ‘stunned’ by King Charles’ ‘cruel’ eviction
King Charles had the support of key royals when he made the call to kick the Sussexes out of their UK home so Prince Andrew could move in.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Prince William backed the decision of his father King Charles to evict Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, it has been claimed.
The shock move was also sanctioned by the Princess of Wales and the Queen Consort in a move considered a “firm retort” by the Palace for his scathing tell-all memoir Spare.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been left “stunned” at the revelation they are being evicted from their UK home, Frogmore Cottage.
The couple, who haven’t lived at the Windsor residence since they exited the royal family in 2020, are being kicked out to make room for Prince Andrew.
According to The Sun, the disgraced Duke of York was offered the keys to the five-bedroom Windsor home last week.
“They’re not impressed, that’s for sure, but this is a firm retort from Charles in response to Harry’s sustained attack against members of the royals in his memoirs Spare as well as all the media and television interviews he has been doing to espouse his book,” said royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.
“The palace could never openly complain about Harry’s book, it makes perfect sense to evict Harry and Meghan. They are so self righteous and think they can control the narrative and the timetable - this is Charles saying they can’t.”
It’s been revealed King Charles reportedly began the process of evicting the Sussexes out of Frogmore Cottage just a day after his son’s controversial memoir Spare was released.
According to a report in the New York Post, the monarch began the eviction process on January 11.
Buckingham Palace issued an eviction notice to the US-based couple as the world was left stunned by Prince Harry’s extraordinary attacks against the royal family.
The Sussexes close friend and unofficial spokesman, Omid Scobie, has revealed King Charles’ surprising move has left Prince Harry and Ms Markle “stunned”, and at least two unnamed members of the royal family “appalled”.
“It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment,” a source close to the couple reportedly told Mr Scobie.
“It’s like [the family] want to cut them out of the picture for good.”
It has been suggested the couple have until “early June” to get their belongings out.
They said: “Initially they were given just weeks, but now they have at least until after the coronation.”
Prince Andrew, who faces being kicked out of his Royal Lodge mansion at Windsor by his brother, was last week offered the smaller Frogmore Cottage, and is said to be “resisting”.
But Prince Harry and Ms Markle are believed to have no choice but to vacate completely the Windsor property, a gift from the late Queen, which would leave them without a UK home.
They are now making plans to remove their belongings from the house and ship it all to their home in Montecito, California, which will cut all official ties with the royals.
It comes as the couple were spotted in public together for the first time since the release of Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare.
According to the New York Post, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were all smiles in the wake of the eviction news as they were spotted arriving at Hollywood hotspot San Vicente Bungalows, a favoured reastaurant of Hollywood power players, in Los Angeles on Tuesday night local time.
Perhaps even more appealing for the couple is that the private members-only club bans the use of mobile phones and photos inside its restaurant.
CHARLES MADE HARRY ‘SUFFER’
Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s latest stoush with his estranged father is the latest in a long line of acrimony between the pair. The Duke of Sussex has previously taken aim at King Charles – suggesting his dad made him “suffer” in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Speaking to the chat show legend on their new Apple TV+ mental health show, The Me You Can’t See, the prince said: “My father used to say to me when I was younger … ‘Well, it was like that for me, so it’s going to be like that for you.”
He added: “That doesn’t make sense — just because you suffered, that doesn’t mean that your kids have to suffer, in fact quite the opposite.”
In his memoir, Prince Harry described his stepmother, Camilla, as “dangerous” and “the villain”.
He also accused the Queen Consort of leaking stories to the press.
The Sussexes were given use of Frogmore Cottage by the Queen as a wedding present in 2018.
The couple claimed it would mean “their family would always have a place to call home in the United Kingdom”.
They ordered A$4.3 million worth of renovations before moving in the following April.
But they spent just six months in their new home before stepping down as working members of the royal family in early 2020.
Mr Scobie was less than gushing about the state of Frogmore Cottage, reportedly telling a friend that: “It was really tatty but they did so much to turn it back into a proper home, so many personal touches and so much of it on a tight budget.”
The couple left the UK for a new life in North America, first to Canada and then California.
Prince Harry later paid back the cost of the renovations to the taxpayer in a deal which included leasing Frogmore Cottage for “several years”.
In autumn 2020 they handed the keys to Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, who have since relocated to Portugal.
Prince Harry’s sporadic trips back to Britain included staying at Frogmore Cottage for Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021 — weeks after he and Ms Markle had conducted a controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey, where they accused the royal family of being racist (they later reneged on those claims).
Prince Harry stunned his family after describing in his book Spare a private argument with his father and brother in the grounds of the cottage hours after the ceremony.
The couple also stayed at Frogmore Cottage during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and celebrated daughter Lilibet’s first birthday there.
More Coverage
Originally published as Prince Harry, Meghan Markle ‘stunned’ by King Charles’ ‘cruel’ eviction