Inside the California home that makes Meghan Markle ‘feel free’
The Duchess of Sussex has given a unique insight into her home life out of the public eye.
Meghan Markle has revealed the freedom, tranquillity and peace of mind she has found at her California home.
The Duchess of Sussex and Prince William snapped up the nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom estate for $US14.65 million ($A21.5m) two years ago in celebrity haven Montecito, where they count the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres as neighbours.
The New York Post reports, the 41-year-old actress has detailed how the 1700 sqm residence makes her “feel free” and is “calm and healing.” in an article in The Cut.
The controversial couple bought the home in 2020 after quitting the royal family earlier that year — an estate with rose gardens, a tennis court, a tea house and a two-bedroom guesthouse.
It’s reportedly the first home that both Prince Harry and Meghan had ever owned.
Two years after the big-bucks purchase, the property has become their home.
And just like any other homeowners, the two are undertaking renovations, including fixing pipes.
Both Prince Harry, 37, and Meghan share an office, where a single desk placed in front of a fireplace has “two plush club chairs placed side-by-side … facing into the room like thrones.”
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Meanwhile, there’s also a sitting room that’s home to a grand piano gifted to the couple by actor and director Tyler Perry as a house-warming present. (Prince Harry and Meghan spent the coronavirus lockdown in 2020 living in Perry’s multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills mansion.) That space also aptly includes cozy chairs, as well as rosewater candles from Soho House whose founder, Nick Jones, is a friend of Meghan’s. (It’s said that Prince Harry and Meghan were set up on a blind date at a Soho House in London.)
“The Montecito house is the kind of big that startles you into remembering that unimaginable wealth is actually someone’s daily reality,” according to the article’s writer, Allison P. Davis.
Still, in the article, Meghan revealed that she and Prince Harry initially avoided visiting this home before buying it. The two didn’t have jobs at the time (they’ve since scored lucrative Spotify and Netflix deals) and being able to afford it didn’t seem possible.
Still, they ultimately toured it — the outside only — and fell head over heels.
The exterior features additionally include a chicken coop, a pool and a pool house, and even two palm trees joined together at the bottom that Prince Harry said reminds him of himself and Meghan — telling the broker they were interested.
“We did everything we could to get this house,” Meghan told the outlet.
“Because you walk in and go … Joy. And exhale. And calm. It’s healing. You feel free.”
Previous reports have indicated that the home also has an elevator, a chef’s kitchen with a butler’s pantry, a billiards room with a wet bar, a gym, a wine cellar and a spa with a massage room.
The Duke and Duchess are currently away from California, visiting England. It’s the first time Ms Markle has been on the continent in two years, since her split from the Royals.
Parts of this article first appeared in the New York Post and are republished here with permission.
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Originally published as Inside the California home that makes Meghan Markle ‘feel free’
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