The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, the couple’s official UK residence, their spokesperson told CNN Wednesday..“We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage,” the spokesperson said..British newspaper The Sun said the pair were being evicted from the property, which is owned by the Crown Estate adding it had been offered to Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, one of King Charles III’s brothers..Buckingham Palace will not be making comments, with a royal source telling CNN that any such discussions would be a private family matter..Frogmore was gifted to the Sussexes by the late Queen Elizabeth II, and though Prince Harry and Meghan Markle now live in the United States, they had retained the early 17th-century property, which takes up a corner of the Windsor estate, west of London, as their UK base..The couple refurbished the property and moved in shortly before the arrival of their son Archie in May 2019..As with a lot of things Harry and Meghan do, the renovation sparked controversy after they stepped back from public life, and it was learned £2.4 million (about CAD$4 million) of British taxpayers’ money had been used on the cottage’s makeover..The Guardian reports the move, likely to be viewed as antagonistic weeks after the release of Harry’s autobiography Spare, was sanctioned by King Charles III..The request to leave their UK home is being seen as a significant weakening of ties between the couple and the royal family months before Charles’s coronation this summer, says the Guardian..The couple has made a number of damaging statements about the royal family in television interviews, the most recent revelations coming in Harry’s memoir was released in January and became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began in 1998..The book included claims Prince Harry was physically attacked by his brother, the Prince of Wales. He also wrote he and his brother had begged their father not to marry Camilla, now Queen Consort..Prince Andrew, who is also no longer a senior figure in the family, was given permission to step back from public duties after an interview with the BBC about his friendship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein..He settled a sexual assault case filed against him by Virginia Giuffre for an undisclosed sum last year, sparing him the humiliation of giving evidence in a trial and protecting the royal family from further reputational damage..Prince Andrew lives in the nearby Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, reports in recent weeks suggested the King is about to cut Andrew's annual grant which could leave him unable to afford his home's running costs..Frogmore has a rich and varied history. Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, had it built in 1792 as a place for her and her daughters to escape the court..At the time it was fashionable for the wealthy to build large homes disguised as idyllic rural cottages..Surviving relatives of Tsar Nicholas II also lived there after fleeing to the UK, following the murder of other family members by Bolsheviks in 1918..Since the Second World War, the cottage is believed to have been used as a home for members of royal household staff, before Prince Harry and Meghan moved in.
