A royal commentator who lives just 10 miles from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new home has said the couple need to “shut up” and keep their heads down in the Cotswolds. Rupert Bell made the comments on Charlie Rowley's TalkTV show, discussing the Sussexes' move from Montecito, California, back to the UK.
Concerns over school run security
Meghan is reported to be worried about security during the school run while dropping off her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, at their new British prep school. Bell, who lives in the Cotswolds himself, questioned the couple's decision to return.
“Why have you come back here? You seem to have your life under control in Montecito – why have you then put yourself in a place that you supposedly feel unsafe in?” he asked.
Accusations of hypocrisy
“That, I think, is what people are finding quite difficult to comprehend, and at times the hypocrisy of this return,” he added. Bell also referenced the sudden change of direction, saying: “We're not sure what prompted this sea change, this dramatic U-turn, which made Keir Starmer's U-turns look positively ordinary! This turn of them coming to the UK is a 360 degree about face.”
He suggested Meghan should “come here quietly, getting on with her life here, rebuilding”. Bell noted that the Cotswolds is a quiet area, saying: “Around this part of the Cotswolds, if they are coming to this part of the world, it's a pretty quiet part of the world. You can just get on with your life. No-one is bothered by who might be walking down the street, I can assure you. But Meghan and Harry need to feel like they are more important than anyone else.”
Call for a low profile
“It seems to just be a need to say, 'Look at me, I am worried', but if she'd just shut up it probably would be less of a security issue!” Bell said. He also addressed speculation about the children's schooling: “There are various schools this neck of the woods that people are speculating as the venues for where Archie and Lilibet will be going to school.
“If they're living in one of the villages they're reported to be heading to, it's probably no more than a five mile run to the school down some quiet country roads. If you just travelled relatively incognito, you'll probably be looking like everybody else round this part of the Cotswolds.”
