Frogmore Cottage, the prior home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, is still vacant over a year after King Charles booted them out.
Frogmore Cottage Has A Rich and Fascinating History
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were asked to leave after the Duke of Sussex published his tell-all memoir, “Spare.” The Sussexes sparked controversy after spending millions of pounds in taxpayer money to renovate the property. Due to the backlash, they ended up footing the bill themselves.
Queen Elizabeth gifted the couple Frogmore Cottage after they got married. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hoped to keep the place as a place to stay when they visited the UK after their infamous “Megxit” in January 2020.
A Buckingham Palace report has confirmed that the cottage is empty, as Prince Andrew refuses to downsize to a smaller home with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
Andrew still thinks he can get away with staying at Royal Lodge despite Charles asking him to leave. Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan are looking for a UK residence.
His Majesty offered him Frogmore cottage, but the Duke of York doesn’t want to move. Even though Royal Lodge is bigger, Frogmore Cottage isn’t small by any means. It also has a rich and fascinating history.
Frogmore Cottage once belonged to King George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte. She had the cottage built in 1801 as a getaway for her and her daughters to relieve themselves of the pressure of the Palace.
Queen Victoria’s manservant, Abdul Karim, and his wives lived there during her reign. After Queen Victoria’s death, King Edward VII banished him back to India.
During King Edwards’s reign, the King’s son and daughter-in-law, the upcoming King George V and Queen Mary, owned Frogmore Cottage.
Queen Mary’s brother, the Marquess of Cambridge, and his daughter, Lady Helena Gibbs, also lived there.
King Charles Threatened To Cut Off Prince Andrew
The Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna was transported from Russia to the UK in 1918 after King George V sent a warship to bring her there. She was one of the few of her family members to escape the Bolsheviks. She stayed at Frogmore Cottage.
These days, no one lives at the Cottage, which burdens the taxpayers. Renting it out would lessen the encumbrance.
The King threatened to cut Andrew’s budget over his refusal to move into Frogmore Cottage. Charles and Andrew agreed he could stay at Royal Lodge if he made all the necessary repairs.
However, Andrew has no reliable source of income after being forced to step down from his royal duties. The Duke of York was embroiled in scandal due to his association with known sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Royal Lodge has been jokingly dubbed “The Money Pit” in a nod to the 1986 Tom Hanks movie about a mansion that sucks up endless amounts of cash due to all the repairs it requires. Andrew has finally started to repair the house as a last-ditch effort to keep his home.
That likely won’t be enough to sway Charles because the property because King currently funds Andrew’s massive security bill and pays for his housekeepers and gardeners. Hopefully, Charles sticks to his guns and evicts him as soon as possible.
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