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Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle are being booted from their official British residence – at the order of his father, the King.
The shock move was revealed by British tabloid The Sun, in what it described as a “world exclusive”, on Wednesday.
“King Charles is evicting Prince Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage – and has offered it to Prince Andrew,” the paper wrote – under the headline “Frogxit”.
Frogmore Cottage, a five-bedroom house on the Windsor Castle estate, remains the official British home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. However, they lived there for only six months before quitting royal duties and departing for California, and have spent only a handful of days there since.
Hours after the paper broke the story, it was confirmed in a brief statement from an official Sussex spokesperson.
“We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage,” Ashley Hansen said .
Frogmore was gifted to the then newlywed Sussexes by the late Queen. Harry and Meghan spent £2.4 million ($4.3 million) of taxpayer money to renovate the property, a cost that was paid back in full after they left Britain.
The couple were living at Frogmore when son Archie was born in 2019, and celebrated daughter Lilibet’s first birthday there in mid-2022.
They also let Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her family move in for a period, although they have since moved on.
The Sun reports that the King began the process of evicting his son and daughter-in-law just days after Harry’s controversial memoir Spare was released in early January.
The best-selling book featured a stream of personal revelations from Harry about his father and brother Prince William, as well as other members of the royal family. The family is yet to comment publicly on any of the stories in Spare, including allegations of a physical altercation between Harry and William, and the prince labelling his stepmother, the Queen Consort, as “dangerous”.
Now, according to The Sun, the Sussexes – who will be left without a home in Britain – are drawing up plans to have their remaining belongings shipped from Frogmore to their Monetecito residence.
“This surely spells the end of Harry and Meghan’s time in the UK,” a source told the tabloid.
The paper reports that Harry is already said to have requested items such as an ornate ottoman bench and a chaise longue to be sent to California.
It is also likely to have ramifications for the Sussexes’ attendance at the King and Queen Consort’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6. Invitations are reportedly due to be sent out for the glittering ceremony – but it is not yet known if Harry and Meghan will be among the 2000 expected guests.
The Sun also claimed the King had “offered the keys” to Frogmore to his disgraced brother Prince Andrew.
This follows earlier reports that Andrew faces being booted from his home, Royal Lodge – the 30-room mansion also on the Windsor estate that he shares with his former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York.
Andrew – who is Princess Eugenie’s father – is apparently “resisting” a move to the smaller Frogmore Cottage. But the King is said to want to push on, amid a wider review of royal funding.
