Harry and Meghan’s £11million Canadian hideaway
THE DUKE and Duchess of Sussex are spending their first Christmas with baby Archie in an £10.7million Canadian bolthole boasting eight bedrooms and two private beaches, The Mail on Sunday understands.
The idyllic waterfront mansion on Vancouver Island has a pizza oven and wine-tasting and games rooms.
It was revealed last week that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were staying in Canada on a sixweek break from Royal duties.
They flew eight-month-old son Archie across the Atlantic last month to the secret address and have been keeping a low profile ever since.
The duchess’s mother, Doria, has been visiting from Los Angeles and spent Christmas with the couple.
Vancouver Island on Canada’s west coast is fabled for its lakes, waterfalls and mountain scenery.
The mansion where Harry and Meghan are rumoured to be staying is built for privacy and locals in the rural community nearby noticed additional cameras and fences going up earlier this month.
One officer from the couple’s Royal Protection Team was reportedly spotted patrolling the roads dressed in a Barbour jacket and driving a black Range Rover. Another two British guards were said to have been seen flying out from nearby Victoria airport.
The mansion is made up of a 11,416 sq ft main house, with five bedrooms and eight bathrooms, an accompanying 2,349 sq ft guest cottage with three beds and two baths. The main house has a wood-panelled office with fireplace and a double-height living room that opens on to a large kitchen equipped with a pizza oven. It also boasts a large, light-filled dining room that can seat ten for dinner and is graced by an extravagant chandelier.
One neighbour, who stayed at the property when it was in the hands of previous owners, said: ‘We were down there all the time.
‘It’s very different looking right now. There’s a camera down there and temporary fencing. It looks very cut off right now.’
The sprawling property also has a conservatory in its four-acre grounds with two entrances to the seafront.
Harry and Meghan have been reportedly spotted jogging during their stay on Vancouver Island and
Bev Koffel, who owns a waterfront restaurant on the island, said she had met the couple’s bodyguards.
The mansion was reportedly sold a few years ago to a US-based ‘billionaire’, according to an estate agent involved in the deal.