Prince Harry heartbroken after ‘forever home’ became ‘just another brief stop’

Prince Harry revealed his sadness at having to leave Frogmore Cottage, his former royal residence at Windsor Castle.

The cottage was the first place that Harry and wife Meghan Markle lived whilst part of the royal family. The couple were gifted Frogmore Cottage in 2019 by Queen Elizabeth II, and paid for an extensive renovation independently after initially using taxpayers’ money and then repaying it.

However, their time in the five-bedroom house was short-lived as by the end of 2019 they had announced their decision to leave the royal family and vacated in 2020. The cottage was where Harry lived during the early days of his relationship with Meghan, with videos of the couple’s time there shared in their Netflix docu-series.

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Writing in his memoir Spare, Harry reflected upon a meeting with Charles and William that he’d asked for after his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral. Whilst waiting for the others to arrive at Frogmore Cottage, Harry was left saddened as he realised the cottage that was going to be his ‘forever home’ wasn’t. He wrote: “Once upon a time, this was going to be my forever home. Instead it had proved to be just another brief stop.”

In Harry’s book, he later claimed that he and Meghan were ‘evicted’ from the cottage after their decision to leave the royal family. Back in March 2023, it was revealed King Charles had asked Meghan and Harry to vacate Frogmore Cottage. A source told The Standard at the time: “The Sussex’s are no longer leasing Frogmore Cottage. That privilege has been removed. It’s over for them in the UK. If they want a residence in the UK they will have to buy one privately.”

However it wasn’t until June 2023 that Meghan and Harry finally handed back the keys to Frogmore Cottage. The couple’s remaining possessions were shipped to California with courtier Sir Michael Stevens saying at the time: ” We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage.” This is also the date that Prince Harry lists as officially starting his US residency.

When the King issued Harry and Meghan with an eviction notice, it was reported he was drawing up a “range of options” of accommodation for his brother Prince Andrew to move to. Prince Andrew was asked to leave his Royal Lodge mansion following his friendship with disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

A source said Charles told Harry and Meghan he wanted them out to “allow someone else to move in”, with speculation stating that it was thought Andrew would take it over. Frogmore Cottage was initially taken over by Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank in November 2020. However they later moved to another royal residence, leaving the property vacant.