Sussex Secret Cotswold Property: Meghan and Harry Lived in 'Lavish' $3.2 Million Estate While Taxpayers Kicked Up Frogmore Renovations
During the 2019 taxpayer-funded renovations of Frogmore Cottage, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reportedly lived it up in a $3.2 million dollar estate. Reports indicate that Meghan and Harry rented a property in the Cotswolds District for a period of two years, and the lease was reportedly signed shortly before their wedding in May 2018.
After their popular marriage watched by millions, the Sussexes relocated to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor following extensive renovations. During the renovation period, it is reported that they temporarily stayed at the property in Oxfordshire, which pushes back against some reports at that time reflecting the pair not having a place to live in.
The country estate, a Grade II-listed property, consists of three main buildings: a farmhouse with four bedrooms, a two-bedroom guest cottage for staff, and a barn converted into two separate kitchens across its two floors.
According to a friend of the Sussexes, they relished the tranquility of the Oxfordshire home, where they often walked their dogs and hosted private gatherings with friends. Reports even suggest they welcomed notable figures like George and Amal Clooney during their time there, who were guests at their nuptials along with Oprah Winfrey.
The pair were kicked out of Frogmore Cottage by King Charles III in the summer of 2023, which was labeled a "slap in the face" to the Montecito royals. Now, the disgraced Prince Andrew could be set to dwell in their old stomping grounds in a house deemed the place "where royal rejects go."
The King and the Duke of York are currently embroiled in a feud over Andrew's opulent home, Royal Lodge, near Windsor Castle. Despite the former Jeffrey Epstein pal's having lived in the compound since 2003, the monarch is determined to "force him out" as he wants the spread for Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were gifted the 8-bedroom Frogmore Cottage by the late Queen Elizabeth II as a country home following their wedding. The ex-actress reportedly "despised" the 19th-century dwelling and felt "tricked" by somehow thinking she and Harry were getting the far grander Frogmore House nearby. After 2020's "Megxit," the pair vacated the property after British taxpayers footed a reported 4 million pound renovation of the cottage.
Harry would later pay this back after receiving Netflix money in late 2020.
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When asked how the pair would respond when finding out an accused s----- predator would be moving into the house, royal author Gareth Russell told an outlet: "It's hard to know how the Sussexes would react. It was a different set of circumstances in that they had an alternative home they could fund in Montecito. The Duke of York will be staying in Britain and isn't capable of funding an alternative home."
Daily Mirror reported on the Sussex home.