They could pay £360,000 a year for home they’ll hardly ever use
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex face paying up to £360,000 rent a year to retain Frogmore Cottage – even though they will hardly use the historic house.
Under the terms of the extraordinary ‘abdication’ deal revealed yesterday, the Windsor property will still be the ‘UK family home’ for the couple and their son Archie.
Royal sources have told The Mail on Sunday that the Sussexes will have to pay rent at a commercial rate for the cottage, even though the couple are set to spend most of the year abroad.
According to a recent expert estimate, Frogmore Cottage would command £30,000 a month on the
‘A place to call home in the United Kingdom’
open market. And that won’t be all they’ll be splashing out on it.
In the Buckingham Palace statement yesterday, the Sussexes expressed their wish to repay the £2.4million of taxpayers’ money used to refurbish the cottage.
The revelation last year that modernisation works on the Grade II listed property had cost so much sparked controversy, with the Queen reported to be ‘privately unhappy’ over the expenditure.
It is not yet clear how the couple will repay the money and over what period of time.
Frogmore Cottage is likely to remain shuttered for most of the year as the couple make a new life in North America.
At least two permanent employees – a house manager and a cleaner – were moved to other duties within the Queen’s household last week after Harry and Meghan’s announcement that they planned to quit Britain. Other members of staff such as chefs, maids and footmen, were told their services were no longer required.
Money from the Sovereign Grant had been used to convert the property from five separate cottages for Royal staff into one large fivebedroom residence.
Harry and Meghan used their personal wealth to pay for fixtures and fittings and Prince Charles reportedly spent ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’ on what was a major building project.
The couple are believed to have hired Vicky Charles, the decorator responsible for celebrity-beloved Soho Farmhouse private members’ club in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, to help furnish Frogmore.
When they made their ‘abdication’ announcement last week, Harry and Meghan made clear they wished to keep the cottage ‘as they continue to support the monarchy and so that their family will always have a place to call home in the United Kingdom’.
The statement from Buckingham Palace said: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared their wish to repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.’
Frogmore Cottage was a gift to Harry and Meghan from the Queen. It was built in 1680 by Charles II and has been a royal residence since 1792.
Its name refers to the frogs which live in the area.
When Queen Victoria dined at the cottage in 1875, she reportedly said the number of frogs at the property was ‘quite dreadful’.