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Now that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have a good amount of distance and time between themselves and their short tenure as married senior royals, more and more details about what may have been going on behind the scenes are coming to light. The latest report? Apparently, Meghan asked Queen Elizabeth if she could live in the palace, rather than a separate home, after she and Harry tied the knot — a huge no no.
Reportedly, Nottingham Cottage wasn’t where Meghan actually wanted to live.
Meghan and Harry initially lived in Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, but she thought they’d live “somewhere more regal” after their engagement she admitted in their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, Express reported.
According to what royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told GB News (via Express), Meghan had actually asked to live in Windsor Castle instead.
“She wanted to share the same space with the Queen, and she was denied that space for multiple reasons,” Kinsey said.
“Kensington Palace sounds very regal, of course it does. It says ‘palace’ in the name! But Nottingham Cottage was so small,” Meghan said in the docuseries. Harry also noted its small size, including very low ceilings, in his memoir, Spare.
Meghan and Harry moved to Frogmore Cottage before Archie was born.
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The home was given to them as a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth, and they spent about £2.4m on renovations before they moved in — an amount that was originally funded by taxpayers through the Sovereign Grant but later repaid by Meghan and Harry. After the couple left their jobs as senior royals and moved to the US, however, King Charles asked them to return the cottage, so they had to move out all of their things.
Meghan wanted to be on a level playing field with Kate.
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Because Prince William and Kate Middleton lived at Kensington Palace at the time, Meghan supposedly felt it was only right if she and Harry were able to live somewhere just as regal. However, she reconsidered that request after she was warned that she and Harry wouldn’t have as much privacy there because the public is able to tour the castle during certain seasons.
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The request wasn’t considered an ‘appropriate’ one coming from Meghan.
“There are empty bedrooms and suites in the private apartments within Windsor Castle which the Sussexes may have had their eye on, or perhaps some former living quarters in the castle grounds converted into other things,” royal expert Hugo Vickers told Express, via Yahoo!. “But I can see how it might not be entirely appropriate to have a young family living there.”
Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.
At the time, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip lived at Windsor Castle.
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It makes sense that Elizabeth wouldn’t have wanted to share the space, and she shouldn’t have to — after all, she was queen of England at the time.
In the end, only Meghan and Harry know what really went down during that time … and it seems like they really did end up loving Frogmore Cottage after the renovations.
