Where have Prince Harry and Meghan Markle called home? From Cotswolds farmhouse to California compound
Royal watchers have been left stunned by the news that Harry and Meghan are relocating back to the UK.
In an astonishing U-turn six years after their “Megxit”, the Sussexes are ditching life in sunny California for a new home back in Blighty by the end of the month.
It is being reported that the couple and their children Archie and Lilibet, will set up home in a non-royal residence outside of London.
From a quintessential English cottage to a sprawling California compound, here are the properties that Harry and Meghan have called home since going public with their relationship in 2016.
Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got engaged
Andrew Parsons/PA
This two-bedroom property in the grounds of Kensington Palace was Prince Harry’s former bachelor pad and the couple’s first home together.
One of the smallest properties on the Kensington Palace estate, the cottage has two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. Harry moved in in 2012, after Kate and William moved into a larger home to accommodate their growing family.
Nottingham Cottage is where Meghan stayed while she was visiting Harry during their transatlantic early relationship. In 2017, Prince Harry proposed in the garden outside, popping champagne while Meghan was roasting a chicken, the couple have revealed.
The Oxfordshire rental on the Great Tew Estate
Alamy Stock Photo
The 18th-century house is on four acres of private land on the 4,000 acre Great Tew Estate, where the Beckhams’ country house and Meghan’s favourite Oxfordshire haunt, Soho Farmhouse, are also located.
Renovation work on the property was finished by the owner in 2011, turning one of the four bedrooms into a dressing room and creating a large dining room and outdoor seating area with patio heaters for informal entertaining.
Guests, meanwhile, stay in the barn conversion attached to the house (featuring floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the countryside), or in a separate two-bedroom cottage.
Stars thought to have visited the couple at their four-bedroom cottage include Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, George and Amal Clooney and Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian.
Frogmore Cottage, Windsor
Frogmore Cottage
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to the property from Kensington Palace in 2019, spending £2.4 million on renovations to turn the five separate apartments into one home.
Reportedly, the couple also added two orangeries, a vegetable garden and yoga studio, with interiors designed by Vicky Charles of Soho Farmhouse fame.
Following the Sussexes’ move to Montecito, California, Frogmore Cottage was gifted to Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank and their son August on the condition that the Sussexes would stay there on visits to the UK. The Brooksbanks are now thought to split their time between the UK and Portugal.
It is understood that King Charles III began the process of redistributing royal properties earlier this year, in the days following the publication of the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson declined to comment.
The King has long-favoured the idea of a slimmed-down monarchy, and is now thought to be on a drive to cut spending that may see Prince Andrew’s £249,000 annual allowance reduced significantly. If the Duke of York is unable to keep up with the running costs involved in maintaining his current home, the 48-acre Royal Lodge on the Windsor Estate, then he is expected to be offered the keys to the much-smaller Frogmore Cottage.
Trees shielding Harry and Meghan’s temporary home in North Saanich
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Following their 2019 tour of South Africa, the couple took an extended holiday to Vancouver Island in Canada.
The luxurious waterfront home, which has an estimated value of £11 million, is thought to be where the couple worked out the details of their plan to step back from being working royals.
The main house, called Mille Fleurs, is said to be owned by a Russian billionaire. It has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms, while a smaller guest house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Highlights include a double-height living area, chef’s kitchen with pizza oven and a wine-tasting room.
The couple left Canada in early 2020 on hearing that, as non-working royals from 31 March 2020, they would no longer receive taxpayer-funded security.
They stayed at actor and producer Tyler Perry’s house in the gated Beverly Ridge Estates. He also offered them the use of his private security.
It’s thought the couple stayed there with son Archie while hunting for a more permanent home.
“We didn’t have a plan,” said Meghan in the couple’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “We needed a house, and [Tyler Perry] offered his security as well, so it gave us breathing room to try to figure out what we were going to do.”
Prince Harry and Meghan’s home in Montecito, California
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After three months at Tyler Perry’s house in Los Angeles, Harry and Meghan bought their family home in Montecito in California’s Santa Barbara County.
The property is thought to have cost $14.7 million (£11.8 million) in 2020.
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When Prince Harry and Meghan bought it, the home had nine bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, a library, gym, saunas, game room and cinema room — plus a two-bedroom guest house.
There have been reports of multiple break-in attempts and trespassing at the couple’s home, and reports suggested they had once been considering a move to the ultra-private, affluent Hope Ranch community in Santa Barbara.
Harry and Meghan are reported to have paid £6.3million for a holiday home in Costa Terra, Portugal, in 2023. The golf and leisure resort is situated in Comporta, a costal retreat 90 minutes south of the capital Lisbon.
It has been something for a home from home for the Sussexes, its laid back vibes a match for their Montecito base.
Features include an organic farm – perfect for Meghan to further hone her green-finger skills.
A pine forest near Costa Terra
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As the Times reports, it’s a perfect retreat for people who love the outdoors.
“Activities are the glue that brings families together and everything is about the experience,” says Kevin Blary, who set up an outdoor pursuits programme at Costa Terra.
