Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Wanted to Live in Windsor Castle After They Married, But Queen Elizabeth Thought It Would Be “Inappropriate,” New Reports Say

Reports are emerging that, as they prepared to wed, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wanted to live in Windsor Castle, but were turned down by Her late Majesty. She instead gave the newlyweds Frogmore Cottage (located on the Windsor estate) as a wedding present; Harry and Meghan kept Frogmore as their U.K. home base even after relocating to the U.S. in early 2020, until King Charles took the property back to the Crown over the summer.

Shots of the exterior of Frogmore Cottage — Frogmore Cottage

Before they stepped back as working members of the royal family, Harry and Meghan extensively renovated and upgraded Frogmore, eventually moving in around April 2019, just weeks before their first child, Prince Archie, was born that May 6. After Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito, California, Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, moved into the home for a time; the Brooksbanks now split their time between Ivy Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace and Portugal, where they live part-time for Jack’s work.

The Times reports that Harry and Meghan asked, in regards to Windsor Castle, if “the living quarters could be made available after their marriage.” OK reports that Queen Elizabeth felt it would be “inappropriate” for the Sussexes to reside in Windsor Castle, and she “politely but firmly suggested” that they take over Frogmore instead.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle look lovingly at each other while descending stairs

“The cottage was a big deal,” said Lady Elizabeth Anson, who royal expert Katie Nicholl spoke to for her book The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown. (Lady Anson died in 2020.) “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.’”

Queen Elizabeth in blue at a royal wedding

The Prince and Princess of Wales now live on the Windsor estate themselves, relocating from Kensington Palace in London to Adelaide Cottage in early September 2022, shortly before the late Queen died on September 8. Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, though divorced for 27 years, both live together in Royal Lodge, which is also on the Windsor estate.

Princess Diana also lived at Kensington Palace (often called “KP” for short) for most of her life post-marriage to the then Prince Charles, and Harry and Meghan lived in Nottingham Cottage on KP’s grounds before moving to Frogmore. “Kensington Palace sounds very regal, of course it does,” Meghan said in the couple’s six-part Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan. “It says ‘palace’ in the name. But Nottingham Cottage was so small.” Harry agreed: “The whole thing is on a slight lean, [with] really low ceilings,” he said. “So, I don’t know who was there before, but they must have been very short.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in red at an engagement before leaving as working royals

Harry and Meghan moved into their current home, a $14.65 million estate in Montecito, in July 2020. The property, per Variety, sits on a private, gated street and is nestled on 7.4 acres. The home is about 100 miles away from Los Angeles, and, while the Sussexes could have asked Charles for financial help, Harry and Meghan were intent on purchasing their new home independently. “Harry could’ve asked Charles to contribute toward the cost of the house, but he chose not to,” Us Weekly reports. “Getting his dad financially involved would result in the royals having control over him. It would mean going backwards.”

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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.