The Battle of Frogmore Cottage: The Palace stayed silent during Prince Harry’s round of interviews when Spare was first released but afterwards the couple were asked to give up their royal residence

When Prince Harry first released Spare two years ago, the Place stayed silent and did not comment.

However, the King’s actions afterwards made his feelings known, according to writer Omid Scobie in his book Endgame: Inside The Royal Family And The Monarchy’s Fight For Survival.

In the days leading up to the publication of Harry’s tell-all memoir in January 2023, the Prince gave multiple interviews. 

On January 8, a bombshell talk with ITV presenter Tom Bradby aired to plug the memoir two days before publication. 

Harry accused his family of ‘getting into bed with the devil’ by working with the press to ‘rehabilitate their image’.

He went on to deny saying they were racist, but expressed how he felt they were guilty of ‘unconscious bias’.

Harry speaking with ITV presenter Tom Bradby during his interview in January 2023

Harry discusses points with broadcaster Anderson Cooper on CBS News in January 2023

The 90-minute interview covered a wide range of issues, including how he felt his wife was ‘stereotyped’ because she was an ‘American actress, divorced, biracial’ which led to her not being properly welcomed by the Royal Family. 

He also revealed, amongst other topics, how he felt the Royal Family avoided accountability ‘on a lot of things’.

Then, on January 9, Harry spoke to Anderson Cooper on CBS News about his relationship with his family members and how he dealt with the loss of his mother Princess Diana. 

Mr Scobie told how ‘the Palace demanded to see the full footage of the interview before making any comments’.

However, the show refused to and insisted it was ‘something we never do’.

Rather than releasing a public comment, ‘King Charles made his feelings clear in private, despite not having read a page of the book (just as he refused to watch the Netflix series),’ Mr Scobie wrote.

Harry and Meghan were contacted by Buckingham Palace’s Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael John Stevens, and asked to leave Frogmore Cottage. 

King Charles alongside Prince Harry during his father’s 70th birthday celebrations in 2018

Grade II-listed Frogmore Cottage  is located on the estate that is part of Home Park in Windsor 

Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare, published on January 10 2023, filled book shops in Britain

The reason behind the request was, ‘as they were no longer working royals or based in Britain, they needed to give up the keys to their royal rental,’ the royal author told. 

Frogmore had been a wedding gift to the couple from Queen Elizabeth and they had signed a long lease.

They were given until June to depart from the property and they reportedly left on the 29th. 

Mr Scobie told how the couple felt shocked and disappointed over the request. 

When Meghan and Harry stepped down from being working royals they lost the guaranteed police protection that is given to the Royal Family. 

They now cover the costs of their own private security, but Frogmore’s grounds are surrounded by armed guards adding another layer of protection.

Harry and Meghan were also disappointed at the decision because they had spent £2.4million on refurbishing Frogmore. 

The couple kissing in the kitchen of Frogmore Cottage when featured in their Netflix series

Meghan and Harry attend the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2022

It was initially paid for at the taxpayer’s expense but public outcry over the use of public money, via the Sovereign Grant, prompted the couple to cover the cost themselves.

Before it was renovated, Frogmore Cottage had been divided into five run-down staff residences. 

Harry and Meghan turned it back into one large home with a private garden.

They spent just six months in the house before moving to North America in 2020, first to Canada and then California, where they bought an £11million mansion in Montecito.

But the couple initially kept Frogmore as a UK base and shelled out on future rental costs. 

As of July last year, the property was still empty – more than a year after Harry and Meghan were forced to move out.

Though now Charles seems to have a new resident in mind. 

In 2023, The Mail revealed that the King had offered his younger brother, Prince Andrew, Frogmore Cottage, a more modest property than Royal Lodge.

However, Andrew reportedly saw this as a ‘demotion’ too far and refused.

Prince Andrew with Charles at St Paul’s to celebrate the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012

The Duke of York was previously forced to give up royal duties amid the scandal over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

He still has around 50 years remaining on his lease of Royal Lodge after he signed a 75-year deal on the property and agreed to pay £250 a week in rent for the 30-room mansion. 

Sources told Scobie that Charles’s reaction to Harry’s memoir and subsequent actions was ‘undoubtedly’ a factor in changing out the residents of Frogmore, but it was also an attempt to reduce the number of properties the royal family uses. 

The couple losing Frogmore was just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of Charles’s attempt to manage a slimmed down monarchy, a source previously claimed to the Evening Standard.