The Magic Of Montecito: Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle relocated to the sleepy town in California

Cast your mind back to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey. Granted with all the furore surrounding his memoir Spare and his publicity interviews, it does seem a very long time ago.

However, what I remember distinctly (and believe me there were many things that I took away from that interview), was the black-and-white clip that showed Meghan, Harry and their son Archie playing at a southern California beach with Guy, the family rescue’s beagle. This was a world that was clearly poles apart from the life that Harry once had and so desperately wanted to escape.

In the interview with Oprah, Prince Harry explained that his ‘new life’ in California allowed him “to have outdoor space where I can for walks with Archie and we go for walks as a family and with the dogs.” He then went on to say that the highlight for him is “sticking him (Archie) on the back of the bicycle in his little baby seat and taking him on bike rides is something which I never was able to do when I was young.”

Despite mudslides and storms forcing many residents to evacuate Montecito this week, the town reamins a desirable places to live on the USA's west coast. It is home to a number of celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Ariana Grande, as well as the Sussexes.

The contrast between London and the sleep town of Montecito where Prince Harry and Meghan have chosen to live couldn’t be more extreme and is clearly a deliberate choice by the couple to live a life completely different to how Prince Harry and his family’s life would have panned out if they had remained in the UK.

According to Architectural Digest, “the town has less than 10,000 residents, yet many of them are celebrities.” In December last year Anneta Konstantinides from Insider spent a day visiting Montecito. During her day there she went to visit Butterfly Beach and revealed that “there was ample space to sit or walk, and I could tell that the beach was even more secluded near the cliffs. It wouldn’t be hard for a duke and duchess to keep a low profile here.”

Glimpses of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s reportedly worth $14.65million have been seen in an interview Meghan Markle gave The Cut. The magazine showed photographs of Meghan Markle sitting at a desk in what is thought to be her office and them sitting on a sofa in what is believed to be their sitting room.

In the interview, Meghan revealed that the couple did all they could do to get the house. “Because you walk in and go… Joy. And exhale. And calm. It’s healing. You feel free,” Meghan said.

This sense of ‘calmness’ and ‘freedom’ is clearly very important to them both as a couple and is something that Prince Harry has spoken about at length as what was missing from his life as senior member of the royal family.

Montecito undoubtedly has a magic charm that has clearly encapsulated the couple (like many celebrities) and was a deliberate choice of them as the place they want to live and raise their family.

Although many may assume that Montecito has become fashionable only recently thanks to Prince Harry and Meghan and the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Ariana Grande, this is not the case at all.

Former US president John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie stayed at the historic San Ysidro Ranch in the Montecito hills during their honeymoon.

The long standing tradition of celebrity residents may also have been the reason why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were attracted to Montecito.

In the article for Insider, Anneta Konstantinides wrote: “As I talked to more people, two things became obvious. No one had seen Harry and Markle and no one was star struck by Montecito’s Hollywood residents.”

The idea that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle can walk around Montecito with their children undisturbed by residents was clearly the biggest draw for the couple when deciding where to live and raise their family.