Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may now live in sunny California, but they did spend a brief time living and working in the UK as senior members of the Royal Family. After they married in 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were granted a home on the Windsor Estate by Queen Elizabeth II.
The couple moved into Frogmore Cottage, just a stone’s throw away from other royal homes such as Adelaide Cottage and Royal Lodge, but it was claimed that they had originally requested a different residence altogether. This request was reportedly deemed “inappropriate” and one Harry’s late grandmother was forced to “firmly” turn down.
The couple officially moved out of Frogmore Cottage in 2023, having settled into life in the US.
Before they made their move Stateside, reports suggested that the Sussexes had expressed a desire to live in Windsor Castle itself, even asking if “living quarters could be made available after their marriage”. At that time, only the late Queen and Prince Philip had private apartments within the actual castle, with everyone else residing elsewhere on the estate.
Royal insider Hugo Vickers told The Times: “There are empty bedrooms and suites in the private apartments which the Sussexes may have had their eye on, or perhaps some former living quarters in the castle grounds converted into other things. But I can see how it might not be entirely appropriate to have a young family living there.”
Before being bestowed Frogmore Cottage, various homes within Windsor were considered for Meghan and Harry, among them Adelaide Cottage, the former home of the Prince and Princess of Wales who now live in nearby Forest Lodge.
The circumstances around the late Queen granting the couple a home on the iconic estate was also a subject she reportedly spoke to her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Anson, about.
Writing in Vanity Fair, Katie Nicholl wrote that the late Lady Elizabeth, who passed away in 2020, said the Queen described the Windsor home as a “big deal” and shared her hopes that Harry and Meghan would “respect” her generosity.
Lady Elizabeth is quoted as saying: “The cottage was a big deal. The Queen’s entrance into the gardens is right next to their cottage. It is essentially her backyard, her solitude, and her privacy. She was giving that up in gifting Harry and Meghan Frogmore Cottage. We all thought it was very big of her. She said, ‘I hope they’ll respect it.'”
