Amidst Frogmore Eviction, King Charles Will Apparently Offer Prince Harry and Meghan Markle an Apartment at Buckingham Palace
The game of royal residence musical chairs continues.
The royal buzz all week has centered around Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s eviction from their U.K. home Frogmore Cottage—given to the couple as a gift for their 2018 wedding by Her late Majesty. Because of extensive renovations done to the home, Harry and Meghan only lived at Frogmore for about six months before relocating to North America in 2020—first, to Canada, and finally, to the U.S., where they now reside in Meghan’s native California.
Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, lived at the five-bedroom Frogmore for a time before relocating themselves, in their case to Portugal. Now, it seems, Eugenie’s father Prince Andrew is due to move into Frogmore, a perceived downgrade from his beloved Royal Lodge, where he has resided for 20 years.
The game of royal residence musical chairs continues, as The Independent reports that King Charles is set to offer the Sussexes an apartment at Buckingham Palace—a suite of rooms that, in a weird coincidence, once belonged to Andrew. This will allow Harry, Meghan, and their two children Archie and Lilibet to have a home base in the U.K. where they can stay when they visit—which is increasingly rare and likely to remain so as tensions continue between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family. The outlet reports that Charles sees the Buckingham Palace apartment offer as an “olive branch.”
“His Majesty is furious [with Harry], as is [Prince] William,” a source speaking to the Mail on Sunday says, per The Independent. “But the King is not a bad man. He has no wish to see his brother Andrew homeless or penniless. Nor does he wish to deprive the Sussexes of a base in the U.K.”
Frogmore is in Windsor, while Buckingham Palace is in the heart of London. The source says that, for Harry and Meghan, “London is a better fit. The Sussexes have always wanted rooms at Buckingham Palace. They could have Andrew’s old rooms there, which are currently being vacated.”
Earlier this year, the outlet reports, Charles “reportedly told Andrew he could no longer use his suite of rooms at the Palace.”
Though Her late Majesty lived at Buckingham Palace for the vast majority of her reign—and the Palace has served as the monarch’s official home as far back as the 1800s—the King and Queen Consort Camilla do not currently reside there, instead preferring to stay at Clarence House, their longtime residence. Marie Claire has previously reported that Charles and Camilla actually may never live there, as they are comfortable at Clarence House and the Palace is still undergoing a massive renovation project that could last as long as 2027. The King and Queen Consort apparently have no plans to move into the Palace until the renovations are complete, but still conduct engagements from there.
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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.