Just In: Are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Buying a Home in Portugal As a ‘Power Move’?… Check In For More Details

The Sussexes have reportedly chosen a European base just an hour away from Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, their closest allies in the royal family.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may not plan to ever return to Britain, but they still want to keep a foothold on that side of the Atlantic—and have reportedly bought a new home in Portugal, not far from Princess Eugenie’s holiday pad, to be their European base.

According to some newspaper reports, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (who were evicted from their cottage in Windsor by King Charles last year) have bought a home in Alentejo, just over an hour’s drive from the coastal town of Melides, where Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank have a house. Speaking to MailOnline, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said that the Sussexes’ decision to purchase in the area “emphasizes that they still have goodwill” with a few select members of The Firm, and “makes clear that they are connected closely to part of the royal family.”

In an interview for ITV’s documentary Tabloids on Trial, which aired earlier this year, Prince Harry said that he was increasingly concerned about security in the UK, remarking: “It’s one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country.” It is not surprising, therefore, that the Sussexes have chosen a base in the EU that is well away from Britain. Their decision to settle in Portugal, however, is significant. Amid the fracturing of the family tree that was the result of Harry and Meghan’s choice to step back from royal duties, one member of the family has managed to stay friendly with both sides: Princess Eugenie.

Princess Eugenie has, along with her sister Princess Beatrice, supported Prince William at various public engagements in recent months, to the extent that many see him giving them both more prominent roles as working royals when he ascends the throne. Meanwhile, Eugenie has maintained a solid friendship with William’s estranged brother, and was even running in the same circles as Meghan Markle long before the former actor met her prince. It’s understood, says

The Express, that the pair originally met through a mutual friend, the fashion designer Misha Nonoo–and indeed, they both attended Nonoo’s wedding in 2012, when she tied the knot with now ex-husband Alexander Gilkes, an old school friend of Harry’s.

It’s perhaps this connection that prompted Harry to introduce Meghan to Princess Eugenie before any other royal, in a secret meeting at the Prince’s former home, Nottingham Cottage. The fledgling couple went on to become fast friends with Eugenie and Jack—and the foursome even had one last night of (relatively anonymous) fun together in 2016, just before Harry and Meghan went public with their relationship. “It was so great,” said Megan of the outing, “just silly fun.” She went on her friend Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show to recount how “the four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple.”

Since then, the two couples have remained close, despite the frictions that have caused not so much a rift as a chasm between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the rest of the royal family. Footage from the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary shows Princess Eugenie accompanying Prince Harry to the Super Bowl, and playing with a young Prince Archie on the beach. To this day, Princess Eugenie is thought to have been the only royal to have flown out to see the pair in Montecito.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have returned the favor, however, and apparently nipped off to Portugal for a romantic three-night getaway after the Invictus Games last year, with sources suggesting they may have stayed with Eugenie and Jack during their trip. The Brooksbanks have a house in the grounds of the CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club, where Jack works, and split their time between there and Nottingham Cottage, near Kensington Palace—the very same house in which Harry and Meghan once lived.

No doubt Harry and Meghan are keen to have a base in Europe in the hope that they might conduct more tours (after all, their recent trips to Nigeria and Colombia have been extremely successful). A home closer to the UK would also enable Harry to continue his charity work in Britain—an ambition which, over the last few weeks, he has made clear that he wants to fulfill.