Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Next-Door Neighbor Says He Tried to Make Them Feel Welcome in Montecito but They Shunned Him
There have been reports that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were house hunting for some time and could be looking to move out of their home in Santa Barbara County. So far though the Sussexes still reside at their “The Chateau” in Montecito. But even if they decide to stay there for years to come, they’re not too interested in getting to know those who live around them. That’s according to their next-door neighbor who is claiming he tried to make the couple feel welcome in the area but they shunned him.
Here’s more about where the duke and duchess were reportedly house hunting as well as their current neighbor’s account of how he tried to welcome the Sussexes to the neighborhood only to get the cold shoulder.
Where Meghan and Harry were reportedly house hunting and why
After stepping down from their positions as working royals in 2020, the couple resided on Canada’s Vancouver Island for some time before moving into Tyler Perry’s Beverly Hills estate. They eventually found a place they loved in Montecito and settled there.
That home, which they bought for $14 million, is 18,000 square feet and boasts nine bedrooms and 16 bathrooms as well as a tennis court, a tea house, and a two-bedroom guest house.
In an interview with The Cut Meghan gushed: “We did everything we could to get this house. Because you walk in and go … ‘Joy.’ And exhale. And calm. It’s healing. You feel free … One of the first things my husband saw when we walked around the house was those two palm trees. See how they’re connected at the bottom? He goes, ‘My love, it’s us.'”
There have been reports that they are looking to sell their mansion and move to Malibu. A source told Us Weekly that the Sussexes are “casually house hunting” and while “they love their life [in Montecito], it feels a bit remote and removed from the city.”
Veteran who lives in property next to Sussexes says he was ‘trying to be neighborly’
Frank McGinity is an 88-year-old Navy veteran who resides in a property next to the duke and duchess’s estate and explained he was just “trying to be neighborly” after the couple moved in but was shunned.
“I have a big house next to Harry and Meghan’s property, and I live in the guest house while renting the main house out on Airbnb,” he told the Montecito Journal before adding that he offered to share his knowledge of the local area with the prince and former Suits actor but was “turned away.”
McGinity explained: “Harry and Meghan live on old McCormick property, and I went up to their gate with the films on a CD, but they weren’t interested. The gate guy turned me away and wouldn’t take the film, just saying, ‘They’re not interested.’ I was trying to be neighborly. If they were interested in the neighborhood I’ve got a lot of information.”
When asked if he sees his neighbors at all these days, McGinity said: “We don’t see them very much around here. It’s surprising they came here. People are typically older. It’s where the elephants come to die.”
