Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are officially out of Frogmore Cottage via PEOPLE.
It has been noted that Frogmore Cottage was Prince Harry and Meghan’s first family home, having upgraded from the two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace in London to the larger space before Prince Archie was born in May 2019.
Extensive renovations took place before they moved in, said to cost around $3 million. Following their step back from their royal roles, the couple repaid and “fully covered” the taxpayer-funded Frogmore renovation. The revamp had originally been backed by the Sovereign Grant, the U.K. fund set aside for royals and fueled by taxpayers.
While Harry, Meghan and Archie settled in Montecito in the summer of 2020, where Princess Lilibet was born in June 2021, the Sussex family continued to use Frogmore as a base of operations during visits to the U.K. — though another young royal family moved in full-time. Prince Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, moved into Frogmore Cottage before their son August was born in February 2021.
“We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage. The Duke and Duchess have repaid the expenditure incurred by the Sovereign Grant in relation to the renovation of Frogmore Cottage, thus leaving the Crown with a greatly enhanced asset,” Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens said in recent briefings.
According to The Sun, the last of the couple’s things were shipped to their California home, where they relocated in 2020 after stepping back as working members of the royal family.
The update comes almost five months after a spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation told PEOPLE the couple had been asked to leave the residence.
“We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage,” the spokesperson said in March.
