New revelations have surfaced about why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were forced to vacate their residency at Frogmore Cottage.
Omid Scobie’s book Endgame reveals that the ex-royal couple were removed from the Windsor home due to them no longer operating as working royals or residing in the UK, leading to the necessity of surrendering their royal residence.
The eviction notice was reportedly sent to the Sussexes by Buckingham Palace’s keeper of the privy purse, Sir Michael Stevens, according to reports by the New York Post.
Following the alleged eviction, the founder of the Invictus Games is claimed to have furiously phoned his father, King Charles, retorting: “You don’t want to see your grandchildren anymore?”
Harry and Meghan, parents to son Archie, five, and daughter Lilibet, three, found themselves at the centre of controversy when Charles initiated eviction procedures from Frogmore Cottage just a day after Harry’s explosive memoir Spare was released.
Ahead of its release in January 2023, Harry participated in conversations with ITV and CBS, as mentioned by the Daily Mail. Scobie alleges in his book that the Palace requested the complete footage of the CBS interview “before making any comments”, a request that the broadcaster denied, asserting that this was “something we never do”.
Rather than issue a public response, King Charles opted to convey his sentiments privately, despite not having read a single page of the controversial publication.
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community hereand get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Harry and Markle relocated to Montecito, California in 2020, using Frogmore as their UK base during visits back to to the UK. Frogmore was a wedding gift to the couple from the late Queen Elizabeth in 2018.
It underwent substantial renovations costing taxpayers an estimated £2.4 million before they finally moved in. As of July last year, the property remained vacant after the Sussexes’ departure.
Prince Andrew was expected to take over Frogmore, despite his reluctance to leave his long-term residence at the Royal Lodge. The disgraced Duke of York has been insistent on remaining at the lavish 30-room mansion, where he has resided since 2002 with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
Andrew still has approximately 50 years left on his lease of Royal Lodge, after he signed a 75-year agreement for the residence and agreed to pay £250 a week in rent for the property.
Sources informed Mr Scobie that Charles’s reaction to Harry’s memoir and actions were a significant factor in changing the occupants of Frogmore and reducing the number of properties the Royal Family utilises.
A source previously told the Evening Standard that the Sussexes losing Frogmore was merely the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of Charles’ efforts to manage a streamlined monarchy.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.