Prince Harry reportedly asked his father, King Charles, a heartbreakingly cutting question after his eviction from Frogmore Cottage in January 2023. Following their bombshell decision to step down from their roles as senior working royals, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle initially planned to split their time between the UK and the US, but that soon changed, and they have spent the last six years building new lives in California.
While the decision to evict the couple from their Windsor home was largely brushed off by sources close to them, an explosive royal book claimed the Duke of Sussex had a damning question for his father. In his book Endgame, author Omid Scobie claimed that after being told to leave Frogmore Cottage, Harry asked his father, “Don’t you want to see your grandchildren again?”
The book’s anecdote has resurfaced following claims that Harry would “like an invite to Sandringham” to spend time with his father this summer. It has been reported that the Duke would like to bring his wife, Meghan Markle, and two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, with him.
After the couple were evicted from Frogmore Cottage following the publication of Harry’s damaging Spare memoir in 2023, a source close to the couple denied that the pair were shocked by the decision, as they told The Times: “It is what it is. They are not fighting it. They realise they have a home [in California]. They have a roof over their heads. They were very privileged to have a second residence. It’s not going to work out for them there, and that’s OK.”
The source added that: “the world seems to be more distraught over it than they have been” and accepted that “change was inevitable” as the King was always planning to have a slimmed-down monarchy.
The story of Harry and Meghan being granted a home at Frogmore Cottage by the late Queen following their 2018 wedding has always been contentious. According to The Times, Harry and Meghan wanted to live within Windsor Castle itself and reportedly asked if “living quarters could be made available after their marriage”.
At the time, only the Queen and Prince Philip had private apartments within the actual castle, with other royals living elsewhere on the vast estate. However, the late monarch is said to have “politely but firmly suggested” that they live in nearby Frogmore Cottage instead.
A further claim about the decision to give her grandson and his wife the impressive home as a wedding gift was made in royal author Katie Nicholl’s book, The New Royals.
Nicholl wrote that the late Lady Elizabeth Anson, who died in 2020, said the Queen described the Windsor home as a “big deal” and shared her hopes that Harry and Meghan would “respect” her generosity. Lady Elizabeth is quoted as saying: “The cottage was a big deal. The Queen’s entrance into the gardens is right next to their cottage. It is essentially her backyard, her solitude, and her privacy.
“She was giving that up in gifting Harry and Meghan Frogmore Cottage. We all thought it was very big of her. She said, ‘I hope they’ll respect it.'”