Was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Eviction from Frogmore Cottage All For Nothing?

Their former U.K. home remains vacant more than a year after they were forced to leave.

A year after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were asked to move out of their U.K. home, Frogmore Cottage, a new report revealed that the property is actually still vacant. The Royal Household published the Sovereign Grant Report for the 2023-2024 financial year on Wednesday, July 24, which includes the partially taxpayer-funded sum spent on King Charles’s duties and residences, according to People.

The outlet noted that because of increased interest in Frogmore Cottage, a representative from the palace has confirmed that the residence is, in fact, still vacant, despite Harry and Meghan being rushed to move out last year.

“I don’t think, at this point, I would speculate on who will be the future occupants of the cottage,” an official said, per The Independent. “The Sovereign Grant has been fully reimbursed for the refurbishment costs of Frogmore cottage when it was initially provided to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and, therefore, there is no cost to the Sovereign Grant other than some routine maintenance, but it would be required for any of the buildings.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex lived in the cottage from 2019 to 2020, after moving out of  Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace. After the couple took a step back from royal duties in 2020, they left the U.K. and eventually moved to Montecito, California, where they still reside. Frogmore Cottage, however, was still technically their property (they even had some belongings at the residence still) until they were asked to vacate the building last year.

At the time, a spokesperson for the couple confirmed the news to People saying, “We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage.”

The eviction was reportedly a “slap in the face” to Harry, who was “furious” over the situation. “Harry was absolutely furious and in tears about being evicted from Frogmore,” royal author Tom Quinn previously told The Mirror. “He felt his father had no right to do it and that it was purely vindictive. Harry couldn’t see that choosing to stop being a working royal would inevitably mean being deprived of his royal residence. Harry took it as a cruel rejection.”

Since the Sussexes moved out, it has been believed that Charles’s disgraced brother Prince Andrew would be made to leave his Royal Lodge residence at Windsor Castle and move into Frogmore, though, that evidently has not been the case.