Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not planning to open their Montecito mansion to newcomers, US media reports. A source told celebrity magazine Page Six that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to hold onto the property, reported to be worth £11 million ($14 million).
Mansion retained despite UK move
Questions about the future of the couple's former Mediterranean-style home and 7.4-acre estate were raised after Harry and Meghan announced they would return to the UK. The royal couple are believed to have been living somewhere in the Cotswolds since making a U-turn and returning to Britain in August.
A source told Page Six: "No one is moving in. There are folks still maintaining the property."
Property details and UK stay
Harry and Meghan's nearly 19,000-square-foot mansion has been the subject of speculation as to whether they might sell it or get renters for the nine-bedroom and 16-bathroom property. The appeal of the place is plain, with its swimming pool, tennis court, extensive gardens and a "cottage" for the children.
Meghan and Harry are in Britain for an extended period, but not permanently. They remain non-working members of the Royal Family. It is understood they returned to the UK so Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet could attend schools here.
School concerns and security incident
They pulled Archie and Lilibet out of their first-choice school in September after just two days, when heavy traffic meant their private security team struggled to stay in a convoy during the school run. The younger Sussexes are believed to have been at their new school for around two weeks now.
Concerns about the children's privacy have been raised after it emerged on Wednesday that two young men with backpacks and using a white van were understood to have been spotted by private security and school staff walking the perimeter of the school, looking at pupils. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's spokesman branded the paparazzi as "extraordinarily reckless" and accused the pair of an "unacceptable intrusion into the privacy of children".
Team Sussex's spokesman said: "There is a world of difference between legitimate media activity and photographers walking the perimeter of a school, stopping to look into the grounds and monitoring children as they go about their day. It is concerning enough that certain European paparazzi appear unwilling to respect the privacy of children at school. But to behave in this manner in these particular circumstances, and so soon after the incident at RAF Fairford, demonstrates an extraordinary lack of judgment. Whatever photographs they may have been seeking, this was not only an unacceptable intrusion into the privacy of children; it was an irresponsible and ill-considered way to conduct themselves in the vicinity of a school."
The men were initially seen separately and were later observed together before returning to a white van, which police said was a rental vehicle. Officers later determined they were international photographers working for a European press agency. The incident is understood to have taken place on Monday, the day after five men were arrested near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, with a farmer discovering three vans blocking a road in the early hours of Sunday. The base has been used in recent months by US bombers to launch air strikes against Iran.
