NEWS
Just In: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle eye ‘Golden Visa’ in Portugal as royals feel boxed out o…. See More
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to be laying down roots overseas.
The U.K.’s DailyMail reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex bought a vacation home in Portugal. The couple currently resides in the wealthy, coastal city of Montecito in California with their son Prince Archie, 5, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 3.
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Several royal experts, who’ve heard whispers of the reported purchase, told Fox News Digital that the location is an ideal choice for the pair.
According to reports, King Charles III evicted the pair from Frogmore Cottage, their U.K. home, shortly after Harry’s tell-all, “Spare,” was published in January 2023.
The number of people inside the royal family who are willing to proclaim their friendship for Harry and Meghan has dwindled to practically nothing,” Christopher Andersen, author of “The King,” claimed to Fox News Digital.
No one wants to run afoul of the king and Prince William – it’s that simple,” Andersen claimed. “Somehow Prince Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie, who has a home in Portugal, has been able to straddle the fence – to remain in the king’s good graces but also not turn her back on the Sussexes. Obviously, Harry and Meghan are very grateful for the loyalty Eugenie has shown.”
Purchasing a villa in Portugal has more to do with being close to a royal family member who is still genuinely fond of them than it does with being geographically closer to Great Britain,” he claimed. “Maybe in the future Eugenie, who also remains close to William and his wife Kate Middleton, could also play the role of go-between. But any scenario like that seems an awfully long way off.”
At the moment, King Charles and, in particular, Prince William show no signs of being interested in any sort of rapprochement,” Andersen added.
Jack, 38, works in marketing and sales for CostaTerra, the outlet shared. The couple and their two sons, August, 3, and Ernest, 16 months, split their time between Portugal and London.
“Eugenie has always been very close to both Harry and Meghan,” said Andersen. “It comes as no surprise that the Sussexes would find the idea of owning beachfront property at… [the] exclusive Portuguese resort appealing. The fact that Eugenie and Jack have two young children doesn’t hurt either. When the Sussexes return to Europe as a family, they will likely make a point of stopping at CostaTerra so Archie and Lili can play with August and his little brother Ernest.”
It will be interesting to see if CostaTerra becomes the new Mustique, the Caribbean Island paradise that celebrities like Mick Jagger and David Bowie once flocked to after the late Princess Margaret took up residence there,” he said. “That royal fairy dust is pretty heady stuff.”
Queen Elizabeth II gave Frogmore Cottage to the couple as a wedding gift in 2018. However, the home required renovations, which resulted in the Sussexes living there for only several months before they stepped down as senior royals in 2020.
Royal accounts for 2019 showed that $3.2 million was spent renovating the house, which involved structural work, rewiring and new flooring. The couple agreed to pay back the money as part of their royal exit. In September 2020, a spokesperson for the couple announced that Harry had repaid the British taxpayers’ money that was used to renovate the home.
Finding Freedom” author Omid Scobie previously told Yahoo! News that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were “stunned” after the king, 75, evicted them from the royal home.
According to Scobie, the couple was given the royal boot by the king, who was “spitting mad” after “Spare” hit bookshelves. Communication between Harry and his family has also reached “an all-time low,” Scobie wrote.