Harry, Meghan and Andrew’s carousel of Royal relocation as the Sussexes asked to leave Frogmore Cottage

Frogxit has become a hashtag that is trending on social media today with the news that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, are set to vacate their current residence of Frogmore House - with King Charles III set to allow Prince Andrew to move into the property in their place.

But rather than a move of their own volition, reports have emerged that they have been asked by King Charles III to exit the property - which to many people sounds a lot more like evicting a tenant. The wheels have been in motion since January 2023 regarding King Charles III’s requesting Harry and Meghan leave the property, which they moved into after leaving Nottingham Cottage in 2019.

For their part, Harry and Meghan don’t seem to be sweating the move, even though the Daily Mail have reported that their personal items are being shipped from the property to their residency in California. Instead, Harry and Meghan were all smiles as they pitched up at Hollywood hotspot San Vicente Bungalows, the top private club and eatery in Los Angeles for A-list actors, music stars and studio executives overnight.

The shuffle around is set to also accommodate Prince Andrew, who is set to leave The Royal Lodge and move into Frogmore Cottage as part of King Charles III’s attempt to slim the spending that the Royal family currently undertakes. For Prince Andrew, he might see this as a step-down, while for the King, he sees this as not leaving his brother out on the proverbial (posh) doorstep.

While Frogmore Cottage does boast 10 bedrooms, it pales in comparison to the 30-bedroom lodgings Prince Andrew currently finds himself residing in; to some, the ‘downsizing’ of Prince Andrew’s property could be seen as a form of punishment from the King, given every and all allegations that the Duke of York has been subjected to.

That also leaves the question if this shuffle around will mean another move for Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, who for a short while also lived at Nottingham Cottage and currently residing in Ivy Cottage - yet are dividing their time between living in the UK and Portugal. Could King Charles III, to slim down the spending even more, look to evict - sorry - request the pair leave the grounds of Kensington Palace?

It all seems like a very confusing episode of Changing Rooms, sans Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen; but Peopleworld takes a three of the Royal residencies that have been lodged by our characters at play.

Frogmore Cottage

We start with the property that is causing the most recent cause celebre - the Grade II listed building that Harry and Meghan have been asked to vacate. The property was originally a country getaway for Queen Charlotte, the queen consort of George III, and her unmarried daughters, and before undertaking significant renovations ahead of Harry and Meghan’s move from Nottingham Cottage in April 2019 the property was divided up into separate units for royal staff members.

The upgrades were the first piece of contention from the public, as it was revealed that £2.4 million was spent from the Sovereign Grant to renovate the property into a four-bedroom property with a nursery ahead of the birth of Harry and Meghan’s child, Archie. The couple however vowed to pay back the cost as they shortly stepped down from their Royal roles, which was settled in September 2020.

That led to the lease on the estate being extended for Harry, with Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank residing in the property with their son until May 2022, when Harry and Meghan took up residency at the property once more to have a domicile in the UK.

But now that the couple has been asked to leave Frogmore Cottage, reports have suggested that Prince Andrew is now set to take the keys and make the building his new property - which he might consider a step down from the lap of luxury he found himself in while residing in our next Royal residency.

• Former residents: Queen Charlotte, George III, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Abdul Karim, Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank

• Current residents: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex 

• Future residents: Prince Andrew (?)

The Royal Lodge

The current lodgings for Prince Andrew, which is situated in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, England, half a mile north of Cumberland Lodge and 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south of Windsor Castle. Another Grade II listed building, the Royal Lodge was from the mid-eighteenth century the home to the military topographer and artist Thomas Sandby (brother of the better known Paul), as Deputy Ranger of the Great Park.

After 1830, King William IV ordered the demolition of all of the house, except the conservatory. It became a residence again in 1840 and was used as accommodation for various officers of the Royal Household until 1843, and from 1873 to 1931. In more recent years, the property became the residence of The Queen Mother from 1952 until her death - it was at the Royal Lodge that the Queen Mother died, by the side of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince Andrew then took up a 75-year lease on the estate in 2003; the lease agreement required Prince Andrew to carry out, at his own expense, refurbishments estimated at £7.5 million at September 2002 prices, excluding VAT (this sum was exceeded). It also provided a premium payment of £1 million.

Prince Andrew then moved into the property with his two daughters in 2004 after his separation from Sarah Ferguson, having moved out of Sunninghill Park. But now, with Prince Andrew still the black sheep of the family after his disastrous Newsnight interview and connections to both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, perhaps the “slimming” of the Royal spending by King Charles is the perfect means of removing Andrew into the “humble” lodgings of Frogmore Cottage.

The Royal Lodge also provided the backdrop for the painting Conversation Piece at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, an oil-on-canvas painting by Herbert James Gunn depicting King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and their daughters Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret taking tea in the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park

• Former residents: The Queen Mother, Sarah Ferguson, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth

• Current residents: Prince Andrew

Nottingham Cottage

Considered the first home of Harry and Meghan before moving into Frogmore Cottage in 2019 after renovations, Nottingham Cottage (or Nott Cott for the well ingrained in Royal talk) was designed by Christopher Wren and derives its name from Nottingham House, the residence of the Earl of Nottingham: in 1689, the second Earl sold the property to William III and Mary II, who developed the estate as Kensington House, later Kensington Palace.

It was originally the London residence for Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales after their marriage from 2011 to 2013, splitting their time between the cottage and their home on the Bodorgan Estate in Wales. The cottage was redecorated for the couple by interior designer Kelly Hoppen. The Duke and Duchess resided there with their son Prince George after his birth, before moving to Kensington Palace in October 2013.

This is when Harry, fresh out of the army, moved into the “bachelor pad” and the property he resided in when he first met Meghan Markle. It was also where Harry proposed to Meghan while roasting a chicken so the story goes, and was where Harry and Meghan sat in their lounge and announced their engagement to the rest of the world.

It was also the site of the bust-up between Prince Harry and Prince William, according to Harry’s memoir, Spare. Harry says William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, which Harry calls a “parrot[ing of] the press narrative” about his American wife. The confrontation escalated, Harry writes, until William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor”. Harry later wrote that William apologised for the confrontation.

However, despite its grandeur appearance, it led to some complaints from Harry, who remarked in his interview with Oprah Winfrey that the ceilings were so low that he would have to stoop to avoid banging his head. Meghan also mentioned that if people visited them at Nottingham Cottage, no one would believe that was their home… a home that is said to have been a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II, which might explain (if stories that Harry was a favourite grandchild of the Queen) the warm gesture allowing Harry and the newly-introduced Meghan to live in the property after he toured Afghanistan.

It was also for a while the home of - you guessed it - Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and son August when the Sussexes moved to Frogmore Cottage in 2019. The most recent occupants of the residency have been Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli-Mozzi.

• Former residents: The Prince and Princess of Wales, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank

• Current residents: Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli-Mozzi