The news that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are heading back to Britain later this month has set off a wave of guessing games, and the biggest question on everyone's mind is simple: where exactly will they live?
The couple currently call a $14.5 million estate in Montecito, California home, and reports confirm they have no plans to give it up. According to People magazine, which broke the relocation story on August 19, Harry and Meghan will keep both their sprawling California property and their vacation home in Portugal, even as they set up a new base in the UK.
That new UK residence, however, is being kept firmly under wraps. Insiders say the exact location of the family's future home — and even which school their children will attend — is being closely guarded, mirroring how the couple once quietly lived in a $3.3 million Cotswolds farmhouse shortly after their 2018 wedding while Frogmore Cottage was being renovated.
Frogmore Cottage, of course, is central to this story. The property was gifted to the couple by the late Queen Elizabeth II following their wedding, and Harry and Meghan later repaid the full cost of its renovation through the Sovereign Grant. It served as their UK base for years, hosting Lilibet's first birthday celebration when the family returned for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
That all changed in 2023, when King Charles asked the Sussexes to vacate the cottage. A spokesperson for the couple confirmed at the time that they had been formally requested to leave. Rumors swirled that Prince Andrew might move into Frogmore afterward, but that never came to pass — Andrew has instead settled at Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate.
Given that history, few expect Harry and Meghan to return to Frogmore this time around. Sources cited by The Telegraph suggest the couple's new UK base will be a private property, away from royal residences altogether, and located somewhere outside London rather than within the city itself.
One royal commentator has floated a specific guess: the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire, the 13,000-acre property where Princess Diana grew up and which is still owned by her brother, Charles, Earl Spencer. The couple reportedly visited Althorp back in July to pay their respects at Diana's memorial, fueling speculation that the area could hold personal significance for their next chapter.
For now, though, nothing has been officially confirmed, and the family's precise UK address remains one of the most closely watched mysteries surrounding their upcoming return.
Key Takeaways:
- Harry and Meghan will keep their Montecito, California mansion and their Portugal vacation home even after relocating to the UK.
- Their new UK residence will reportedly be a private, non-royal home, with the exact location and even the children's school kept secret for now.
- Frogmore Cottage, their former UK base gifted by Queen Elizabeth II, is not expected to be their new home after they were asked to vacate it in 2023.
- Prince Andrew, once rumored to be moving into Frogmore, is instead living at Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate.
- One royal commentator has guessed the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire — Princess Diana's childhood home — as a possible location, based on the couple's July visit there.
- The couple previously used a similar low-profile approach in 2018, secretly living in a Cotswolds farmhouse before their move to Frogmore Cottage.
