Royal Family Is Open to "Public Scrutiny" as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Former Home, Frogmore Cottage, Sits Unused

After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married, they moved from their modest two-bedroom Kensington Palace home, Nottingham Cottage, into the larger Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Castle estate. Their time living in Windsor was brief, since the couple stepped down as working royals in early 2020 after moving to Frogmore in the spring of 2019. And now that the Sussexes live in California and the property sits unused, many have wondered what the Royal Family will do with the recently renovated home.

Robin Edwards, a property buying agent at Curetons, tells Marie Claire that there are multiple options for Frogmore Cottage's future. "It is likely that the Royal Family will want to find a practical use for Frogmore Cottage rather than leave it sitting empty, as allowing a property of this scale and significance to remain vacant could be controversial," he says.

Indeed, the house is steeped in royal history, having been built by Queen Charlotte as a family retreat in 1801. It also served as an escape for Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, who lived at Frogmore Cottage in the 1920s after she left Russia during the country's revolution.

Although the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to Montecito, they didn't officially vacate the five-bedroom property until 2023, when their license to occupy Frogmore Cottage was not extended. As Edwards notes, "Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, took up residence at the cottage from November 2020 'til May 2022," but the couple now lives in Portugal most of the year, while also keeping their Kensington Palace home, Ivy Cottage.

After Eugenie and Jack left, Frogmore Cottage has remained unoccupied. Multiple reports indicate that Prince Andrew was offered the home "in exchange for surrendering his lease on the nearby 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park," Edwards says. "However, he has refused to leave his lavish mansion and move to the significantly smaller Frogmore Cottage believing it to be not grand enough for him."

With no residents at the moment, the property expert suggests that Frogmore could be leased "to a high-profile tenant, particularly someone with strong royal connections." Another possibility is to allow a senior member of the royal household to live there "as a grace-and-favour residence," Edwards suggests.

With diplomatic visitors meeting with The King each year—like the upcoming French state visit in July—Edwards points out that "another option would be to use it for visiting dignitaries or guests, as it would make an ideal accommodation choice for those attending events at Windsor Castle."

The renovations on the property for Prince Harry and Meghan to live at Frogmore Cottage cost a reported £2.4 million—which the couple repaid when they moved to California—but the high cost of annual upkeep will make the Royal Family eager to find a use for the property, Edwards says.

"Considering public scrutiny over the use of royal residences, it seems likely that the family will either find a practical use for Frogmore Cottage or rent it commercially to justify its ongoing maintenance costs," he says.