Harry and Meghan ‘stunned’ by King Charles’ ‘cruel’ decision to evict them from Frogmore Cottage
Harry and Meghan’s close friend Omid Scobie has shed light on the Sussexes’ reaction to being given the boot from Frogmore Cottage.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been left “stunned” after King Charles evicted them from Frogmore Cottage, their home in the UK.
The couple are now making arrangements to have the remaining belongings they’d left behind in the UK shipped to their new home in California, The Sun reported.
“We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage,” a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement obtained by The Mirror.
King Charles has reportedly suggested his brother, the disgraced Prince Andrew, move into the five-bedroom Windsor house instead.
Now Harry and Meghan’s close friend Omid Scobie has shed light on the Sussexes’ reaction to being given the boot.
A source close to the couple told him: “It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment.
“It’s like [the family] want to cut them out of the picture for good.”
The news has reportedly left at least two members of the Royal Family “appalled”.
The Sun reports that the new monarch began the process of removing Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage just days after Spare was released in early January.
Frogmore Cottage was gifted to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by the late Queen when they got married in 2018. It underwent significant renovations – costing taxpayers a reported £2.4 million ($A4.29 million) - before they eventually moved in.
However, Harry and Meghan lived there for less than a year before announcing they were quitting royal duties and moving overseas in early 2020.
They have since paid back the cost of the renovations after landing a series of lucrative commercial deals.
The couple most recently renewed their lease on the property in May last year, after its temporary residents, Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, moved to Portugal.
A source told The Sun that the news of their Windsor eviction “surely spells the end of Harry and Meghan’s time in the UK.”
“Andrew is resisting the idea of moving into Frogmore Cottage after he was offered it last week,” the royal insider said.
“But it shows Harry and Meghan are powerless to stop the eviction.”
The move also throws heavy doubt over their attendance at the King’s coronation on May 6.
Last month, it was revealed that the Duke of York was “distraught” over the prospect of being “evicted” from his palatial home in Windsor, with a dramatic cut to his yearly earnings looming from April.
Andrew, 63, currently lives with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, in the 30-room Royal Lodge - which is about 5km from Windsor Castle – his home since 2004.
However, this was only made possible by an annual $436,000 subsidy paid to the Duke from his late mother’s private estate – which is now under King Charles’ control.
As such, it will be cut from next month, leaving Andrew reportedly unable to foot the bill of the Royal Lodge’s upkeep.
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan are believed to be in something of a stalemate with his father and brother, Prince William, with the Sussexes reportedly demanding an apology and private summit before they will commit to attending the upcoming coronation.
However, it’s been widely reported that the Palace will not be granting that request.
It comes after Harry fired a number of accusations at his family in Spare, including claims that his brother pushed him to the ground during a physical altercation, that Kate had been cold toward his wife, and that Charles and Camilla’s offices had deliberately leaked private stories about them to the media.
Harry and Meghan – along with their children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1 – currently reside in Montecito in a $21 million mansion with nine bedrooms.