Commentator Calls Harry and Meghan Eviction ‘Petty’ as Frogmore Cottage Sits Empty
Frogmore Cottage sitting empty after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2023 eviction is not a good look for the British royal family, a commentator says. Calling it a “silly” move, the question they’re now asking is: “What’s the point?”
Frogmore Cottage has sat vacant since 2023
Although the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have lived in Montecito, California, since 2020, when they left royal life, Frogmore Cottage remained their official U.K. home until the summer of 2023.
According to the royal family’s annual Sovereign Grant, the Windsor, England, home, which underwent millions in renovations, has had no new tenants since Harry and Meghan. (The couple have since paid back the $3.2 million of taxpayer funds used to update the cottage.)
“During the year, Frogmore Cottage has remained empty,” a palace source said (via Express). “I don’t think, at this point, I would speculate on who will be the future occupants of the cottage.”
Harry’s father, King Charles III, reportedly moved to get the couple out of the home after the January 2023 release of Spare. Since then, he’s been trying to force his brother, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, to leave the Royal Lodge, his longtime home, and move to Frogmore Cottage.
Andrew’s said to have refused, seeing the move as a downgrade, despite mounting maintenance costs for the Royal Lodge.
Frogmore Cottage sitting empty ‘feels a bit silly’ after Harry and Meghan were evicted
Discussing the palace’s update on Frogmore Cottage, royal commentator Afua Hagan told Newsweek that by sitting empty, not only is the U.K. government missing out on rental income from Harry and Meghan but the move to get the couple out comes across as “petty.”
“What was the point of fighting so hard to get Harry and Meghan out of Frogmore Cottage when they were quite willing to pay the rent and have it as their U.K. house and now it stays empty?” Hagan asked.
“It just feels a bit silly and, for want of a better word, petty, because Prince Andrew’s not living there,” she continued. “Harry and Meghan now don’t have a U.K. base when they come. What was the point?”
The late Queen Elizabeth II gifted Harry and Meghan the lease on Frogmore Cottage after their May 2018 royal wedding. Harry recalled in his 2023 Spare memoir how his grandmother had warned him the former staff quarters had been “a bit of a shell” at the time. So, he and Meghan began “planning the minimum renovations to make the place habitable—piping, heating, water.”
Frogmore provided Harry and Meghan with police protection
Per the outlet, Frogmore Cottage’s proximity to Windsor Castle puts it in the castle’s “police cordon.” Because of that, Harry and Meghan had “de facto police protection” despite losing their Metropolitan Police security detail in 2020, whenever they stayed at their former U.K. home.
So, when they traveled to England in June 2022 for Platinum Jubilee Weekend with their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, they had security. Meanwhile, Harry’s legal battle for police protection while in the U.K. continues.
