Meghan Markle and her husband Prince Harry have been formally asked to give up their home in the United Kingdom.
On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed that the royal family asked them to move their belongings out of Frogmore Cottage, which was their place of residence when they lived in Windsor Castle.
“We can confirm the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence,” a spokesperson confirmed to VOGUE.
The news comes after numerous reports revealed that King Charles wanted the cottage back from the pair who quit their royal duties in 2020. Queen Elizabeth had gifted the cottage to the parents of two in 2019, shortly after they wed at St. George’s Chapel a year before.
Even though the couple has since left the royal family and fled to Los Angeles, they continued to use the home as their base whenever they traveled back to the UK.
VOGUE further reports that King Charles is taking the cottage away from Meghan and Harry because he would like Prince Andrew to accommodate the five-bedroom home instead. Prince Andrew was recently in a sexual assault dispute and paid an undisclosed sum to settle the case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, a victim of the now-deceased Jeffrey Epstein who died by suicide while in prison. Prince Andrews was subsequently stripped of his titles and now lives in the 31-bedroom Royal Lodge, which has become too expensive to upkeep, according to reports, which say the King has been looking to cut unnecessary funding since he assumed the throne last year.
“Frogmore Cottage sits on a private estate within Windsor Castle, which also includes the Prince and Princess of Wales’s home of Adelaide Cottage,” VOGUE reports. “It is therefore protected by security from intrusion by both the public and the media. Now, the couple will need to arrange their own secure lodging and safety measures when returning to Harry’s home country.”
It is unclear whether Meghan and Harry will attend King Charles’ coronation scheduled to take place on May 6. The couple currently resides in Montecito, California.
