Sussexes kicked out to make way for Andrew
Couple’s dismay at being told to leave Frogmore is made worse by it going to Duke of York, says friend
Harry and Meghan have seen the Windsor cottage as their only safe space in the UK
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked by the King to hand the keys to Frogmore Cottage to the Duke of York, The Daily Telegraph understands.
The couple have been given until just after the Coronation to vacate their Windsor home, although they have not yet confirmed whether they will attend the May 6 ceremony.
The Sussexes were said to have been “disappointed” when they were told in January that they were being evicted from the property.
And the revelation that the King has offered the Duke of York their muchloved home, which they carefully renovated to their own taste, will only serve to aggravate what have already been “difficult” talks.
The King asked the Sussexes to vacate the five-bedroom Georgian property around the time the Duke’s memoir, Spare, was published in the New Year, but discussions have recently gathered pace. A friend admitted the decision had not been welcomed by the couple, noting that they “made that place their home”.
The Sussexes consider the cottage the only “safe space” for them and their children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, in the UK, not least given the ongoing legal row over the Government’s decision to withdraw their right to automatic state-funded security.
The couple are understood to be upset but accepting of the decision and appreciate that they are “exceptionally privileged” with a roof over their heads.
The King’s decision to remove one of the final links his son has to the UK is said to be indicative of the current state of the relationship between the two sides of the family.
“There has been no embrace,” one source observed.
The Sussexes were given the Crown Estate property by Queen Elizabeth II when they married in 2018. But their £2.4million renovations caused an outcry and they eventually repaid the cost.
They opted to renew the lease last March, ensuring they would have a private place to stay when in the UK, and most recently spent time there last September, when they spent two weeks in the UK following the late Queen’s death.
By maintaining a UK address, the Duke qualified as being “domiciled” in Britain and so remained eligible to serve as a Counsellor of State, a position from which he is now expected to be sidelined.
For his part, the Duke of York has told friends that he does not want to leave Royal Lodge, his home of 20 years, and is pushing back against the plans, which have been put down to “budgets and running costs”.
The Duke moved into the 30-room Grade-ii listed house in Windsor Great Park after the death of the Queen Mother in 2002.
But his 75-year lease gave him full responsibility for the refurbishment costs of the historic building, which are now understood to be vast.
From next month, the King will cut his brother’s annual £249,000 allowance from the Duchy of Lancaster, which may leave him no choice as he has indicated he will be unable to afford the upkeep of the property.
A move from Royal Lodge would also raise questions about where his former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, would live.
The couple occupy separate wings of Royal Lodge, but it is unlikely they would live together at the considerably smaller Frogmore Cottage, which was once briefly sublet to Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank.
One option for the Duchess would be the Mayfair mews house she purchased as an investment for her daughters last summer for £5 million.
A royal source said that all such discussions were a “private family matter”.