Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly looking for a permanent home in the Cotswolds rather than London, aiming for a quieter life away from the capital's bustle. The couple has long stressed that their children's privacy is paramount, and the English countryside makes that easier to achieve.
Why the Cotswolds over London or Windsor
Channel Five's royal editor Simon Vigar told the Express that returning to London was a definite no-go for the couple and their two young children, Archie, 7 and Lilibet, 5. Vigar, author of The Four Wives of Windsor, said: "Harry spent a large chunk of his childhood in the Cotswolds when he was staying with his father and still has lots of friends there."
"But the most important thing is it is not London! There are several airports they can use without going anywhere near the capital and attracting attention," he added.
Airport access and royal connections
Birmingham Airport, where the family are believed to have landed when they returned to Britain, is about an hour to 90 minutes from much of the Cotswolds. Bristol Airport is also within easy reach of the south of the region. The Cotswolds is also home to the largest privately owned airport in the UK, located near Cirencester. Cotswold Airport features a long hard asphalt runway (over 2,000 metres) capable of handling large private business jets as well as light aircraft.
This means whether they use a private or an international airport, the couple will be able to slip in and out of the country largely unnoticed. They are much more likely to be spotted by paparazzi and the public if they were to use London Heathrow, the country's busiest airport. As well as access to quieter airports, the location provides easy access to King Charles III's residence at Highgrove in Gloucestershire, facilitating family visits without the public necessarily knowing.
Family, friends, and a discreet social set
Another royal correspondent, Robert Jobson, author of The Windsor Legacy, agrees the location is perfect for the Sussexes to start a new life together. He said: "They picked that part of the country for a reason. There are family and friends within easy reach, and a wealthy, discreet set already established around Daylesford and Soho Farmhouse. So they will not be short of a social life. It is essentially the Great Tew years [the Cotswolds village where the couple used to have a home] again, with two children attached."
Harry's cousin Zara Tindall and her husband Mike live on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate near Stroud in Gloucestershire, which sits within the wider Cotswolds region. His cousin Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi live in a £3 million country farmhouse in the Cotswolds, near Blenheim Palace, with their children. Meghan's friends and fellow US actresses Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi also live in the area.
Harry previously noted how much they loved the fresh air and lack of photographers in the Oxfordshire countryside compared to city life, and the region offers expansive private land and large farmhouses without public footpaths running past the door. "He will be living the life of a very wealthy countryman in a very wealthy county," added Mr Jobson.
