Frogmore Cottage remains empty a year after Harry and Meghan vacated.
Over a year has passed since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, their former residence in the United Kingdom. Despite speculations about potential new occupants, the historic property remains empty.
On July 24, 2024, the Royal Household released the Sovereign Grant Report for the financial year 2023-2024. This report, which details the partially taxpayer-funded expenses supporting King Charles‘ official duties and the upkeep of royal palaces, reignited curiosity about the status of Frogmore Cottage.
An official at a briefing clarified that the residence, once home to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is still vacant.
“I don’t think, at this point, I would speculate on who will be the future occupants of the cottage,” the official stated, according to The Independent.
The report highlighted that the Sovereign Grant had been fully reimbursed for the costs associated with refurbishing Frogmore Cottage when it was initially allocated to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Consequently, there is no financial burden on the Sovereign Grant, aside from routine maintenance, which is necessary for all royal properties.
Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, lived at Frogmore Cottage from 2019 to 2020. They moved to the cottage from their two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage, located on the grounds of Kensington Palace in London, ahead of the birth of their first child, Prince Archie, in May 2019.
The family left Frogmore Cottage after the Duke and Duchess stepped back from their royal duties in early 2020. Following their departure, they briefly stayed in Canada before settling in Meghan’s home state of California, where their daughter, Princess Lilibet, was born in 2021.
In March 2023, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed that the couple had been asked to leave the residence. “We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage,” the spokesperson stated at the time.
There has been speculation that King Charles wishes for his brother, Prince Andrew, to move into Frogmore Cottage, vacating his current residence, Royal Lodge, which is also on the Windsor Castle grounds.
Frogmore Cottage was in need of significant repairs before Prince Harry and Meghan moved in. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward previously described the property as “pretty dilapidated” prior to their renovations.
Built in 1801 under the direction of Queen Charlotte, the cottage underwent extensive renovations to transform it from a former staff residence into a single-family home.
The refurbishment, funded by the Sovereign Grant, became a point of contention when the couple announced their decision to step back from royal duties in 2020.
Upon announcing their plans to step back, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex expressed their desire to repay the Sovereign Grant for the renovation costs. Buckingham Palace confirmed that Frogmore Cottage would remain their UK family home.
Later in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan fully reimbursed the Sovereign Grant for the renovations, which were reported to cost around $3 million.
According to a source close to the couple, the repayment was a proactive decision to ensure no ongoing public financial burden as they transitioned to financial independence.
Renovations are standard practice for royal residences before new tenants move in. For example, in 2014, the Sovereign Grant funded over $7 million in refurbishments for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Kensington Palace apartment, including costly asbestos removal.
By June 2023, Prince Harry and Meghan had officially vacated Frogmore Cottage. “We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage.
The Duke and Duchess have repaid the expenditure incurred by the Sovereign Grant in relation to the renovation of Frogmore Cottage, thus leaving the Crown with a greatly enhanced asset,” stated Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens during recent briefings.
Reports indicated that the last of the couple’s belongings were shipped to their California home.
Following the Sussexes’ departure in 2020, Prince Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, moved into Frogmore Cottage.
They resided there until 2022, when they began splitting their time between the UK and Portugal due to Jack’s new job abroad.
During their brief stay in June 2022 for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, Prince Harry and Meghan stayed at Frogmore Cottage and celebrated their daughter Lilibet’s first birthday with a backyard party.
Prince Harry also stayed at Frogmore Cottage in June 2023 while he was in London to testify against Mirror Group Newspapers for alleged unlawful information gathering, a lawsuit he won later that year.
Despite its history and recent high-profile occupants, Frogmore Cottage remains unoccupied. The future of the residence, much like its previous tenants, continues to be a subject of speculation and public interest.
