Harry and Meghan must pay the upkeep for their empty British home

Harry and Meghan will return £2.4 million of taxpayers’ money spent on their renovated home and rent it at market rate.

Harry and Meghan will continue to call Frogmore Cottage their UK home. Picture: AP

It was intended as a happy family home for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their son Archie, but Frogmore Cottage in Windsor seems destined to stand empty for long periods in the wake of announcements about Harry and Meghan’s future.

Under the agreement reached with Buckingham Palace, the grade II-listed house close to Windsor Castle will remain the Sussexes’ home in Britain, ­assuming they are able to meet the financial commitments they have promised the Queen.

Harry and Meghan have “shared their wish to repay” the £2.4 million ($4.5m) in public funds spent on refurbishing the five-bedroom “cottage”, which is part of the Crown Estate. The couple moved in last spring, weeks before Archie’s birth.

The statement did not spell out how or when the costs will be repaid. The couple is understood to be ready to pay a commercial rent for the property, informally estimated at as much as £10,000 a month. The two will also meet its running costs year round, whether they are in residence or not. Their surprise departure for Canada in November was followed by reports that Frogmore staff were being “let go” or moved to other duties within the Queen’s household.

The Sussexes indicated they intended to divide their time between Britain and North America, and the Buckingham Palace statement said they would “continue to maintain their private patronages and associations”, suggesting they would not disappear from Britain entirely. Much may depend in the longer term on what kind of school the couple chooses for Archie. While there are several choices within easy reach of Windsor, it appears he may spend his school­days in Canada or the US.

It was first reported in 2018 that Harry and Meghan wanted to leave the cottage they shared at Kensington Palace in London. They had been expected to move from a small cottage in the palace grounds to a larger, newly renovated apartment next door to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but began to look elsewhere after a reported cooling of relations between Prince Will­iam and Harry and their wives.

The Queen is understood to have offered them Frogmore Cottage, a two-storey, stucco-faced house on the Windsor estate. The cottage sits on the grounds of Frogmore House, a larger 17th-century manor house that has been a royal residence since 1792. Harry and Meghan had their wedding reception there after marrying at Windsor Castle in May 2018.

The cottage was converted from five separate apartments into the couple’s official residence, requiring significant structural work over a period of six months. The £2.4m bill was met by the taxpayer through the Sovereign Grant, which funds official activities of the Queen and her family. The couple’s decision to leave for Canada less than a year after moving in caused widespread anger at what many complained was an un­acceptable cost to the public purse.

It was reported last week the Queen was “unhappy” over the issue of costs, which became a key element in negotiations over Harry and Meghan’s future.

The cottage was first mentioned in the accounts of Queen Charlotte in 1801 as having been built for £450. Queen Victoria once had breakfast there, but claimed to have found “an immense number of little frogs”, which she found “quite disgusting”. The frogs may soon be back if the cottage stays empty too long.

THE SUNDAY TIMES