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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally vacated Frogmore Cottage in Windsor – six months after the King gave them their marching orders.
The last of their possessions has been shipped to California and the keys returned, cutting it fine before tomorrow’s deadline.
The pair are now without a UK base and may have to stay with friends or book hotels next time they return to the country, The Sun reports.
But it seems likely the couple will be footing any bills themselves, with a renewed focus on tightening royal spending.
In January, it was revealed the Sussexes were served with an eviction notice on Frogmore just days after Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare was published.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally vacated Frogmore Cottage in Windsor – six months after the King gave them their marching orders
The couple were presented with the five-bedroom, Grade II-listed property on the Windsor estate as a wedding gif by the late Queen
The couple were given an eviction notice from Frogmore in January, just days after the publication of Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare (Pictured: King Charles III)
The Grade II-listed cottage, which boasts five bedrooms and is noted for its homely charms, is due to be rented out.
READ MORE: IT’S THE COST OF LIVING (IN PALACES) CRISIS FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY
It is unknown whether Prince Andrew will vacate nearby 31-room Royal Lodge to move in, following suggestions the King had planned to move his brother.
Frogmore, given a £2.4million makeover by the Sussexes, is unlikely to be empty for long according to insiders.
It was presented to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as a wedding gift by Queen Elizabeth II, but they stayed at the cottage for just six months.
Sir Michael Stevens said: “We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage.”
He added the Royal family now has a “a greatly enhanced asset”.
The prince last stayed in Frogmore when giving evidence at a phone hacking trial earlier this month.
It is believed he and his wife would have to reach a private agreement with the King if they wished to stay in any royal premises again.
The money spent on renovations was repaid to taxpayers by Prince Harry.
After news of their eviction broke, the couple were said to be ‘actually ok’ with the decision and had an approach of ‘it is what it is’.
Meghan and Harry were said to have acknowledged ‘they were very privileged’ to have a home in the UK and in the US, but accepted it was ‘not going to work for them’.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pictured inside their Frogmore Cottage kitchen in their Netflix documentary
‘The most alarming thing was that it was a gift from Her Majesty the Queen, and now it is no longer that. But it’s OK,’ the source told them.
The couple (pictured in Frogmore) were given notice after Harry released his memoir Spare in January
While the Sussexes stayed at Frogmore Cottage following the Queen’s death, they have only been there a few times since leaving the UK three years ago.
Elsewhere, Royal aides may be watching nervously after a three-month delay was announced for the release of a new book by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s cheerleader Omid Scobie.
Earlier today, Scobie tweeted his new book titled ‘Endgame’ – a ‘penetrating investigation’ about the Royal Family’s ‘fight for survival’ – would be published on November 21, three months after its original August date.
He promised the book will be full of ‘unique insight, deep access and exclusive revelations’.
It is thought the publishing date could have been moved to give the author a chance to include inside material through and beyond the King’s coronation.
Prince Harry notably was sat in the third row of the ceremony at Westminster Abbey and played no formal role in the proceedings, jetting off after less than 24 hours in the UK.
Omid Scobie announced the release of Endgame last year but today announced the publication date as November 21, 2023
Scobie (pictured in London in June this year) rose to prominence after writing Founding Freedom, a laudatory biography about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
With no sign of any reconciliation between the duke and his father and brother, a change of publication date leads to concerns Scobie could wring every drop out of the row between the family.
Commenting on Scobie’s announcement today, royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams said: ‘He’s writing about the royal family and he’s also Harry and Meghan’s unofficial spokesperson, some sensational details are bound to follow. However, how well sourced are they?
‘No reputable royal source would talk to Omid Scobie.’
The author’s previous title, Finding Freedom, covered the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ decision to step down as senior royals.
Mr Fitzwilliams went on: ‘His book, co-written with Carolyn Durand, Finding Freedom, which the Sussexes were discovered to have cooperated with despite their denials, was badly written and pathetically inadequate.
‘His new book is entitled Endgame. Some might think the title refers to the current state of the Sussexes’ affairs. It is worth remembering that they reportedly had a four-book deal with Random House.
‘Spare, Harry’s memoir, contained some highly Ill-judged passages including the number of Taliban he killed on his second tour of duty of Afghanistan.’
Following the leak of Spare in January, ex-Army chief Colonel Richard Kemp called Harry’s comments ‘ill-judged’ and said soldiers are not trained to regard their targets as ‘subhuman’ – while former National Security Adviser Lord Darroch said he would have cautioned the Duke from disclosing his kill count.
Mr Fitzwilliams added: ‘Much of Endgame is not likely to be taken seriously. It is likely to be a sensational attempt to cash in on the Sussexes’ rift with the royal family. I suspect it will be trusted as much as anything from the Sussexes’ corner should be.
A six-part Netflix TV series called Harry & Meghan was released in December last year
‘It will be assumed to have been written with their approval as Finding Freedom provably was. What is really worrying is, what comes next. Ironically it seems to be the Sussexes who, to quote Endgame’s blurb “fight for survival” not the royal family.’
Scobie announced his second book last year, in which he said Endgame would ‘pull back the curtain on an institution in turmoil—exposing the chaos, family dysfunction, distrust and draconian practices threatening its very future’.
According to a statement released by the publisher: ‘On September 8, 2022, the world stood still as news broke of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing.
‘Her death dismantled the protective shield around the world’s most famous family, and saw a long-simmering crisis of confidence in the British monarchy begin to resurface.
‘Now, with unique insight, deep access and exclusive revelations, journalist Omid Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil—exposing the chaos, family dysfunction, distrust and draconian practices threatening its very future.
‘This is the monarchy’s endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?’
Mr Scobie, who is the royal editor of US website Harper’s Bazaar, has been a firm cheerleader for Harry and Meghan over recent years, having co-authored a highly sympathetic biography of the couple in 2020.
He is one of the closest journalists to Harry and Meghan since their move to America.
It comes at a difficult time for Harry and Meghan, with Spotify announcing earlier this month that it was dropping the Duchess’s podcast, Archetypes.
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