Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were given Frogmore Cottage to live in by the late Queen in 2019, but their time in the property was short-lived as they soon after decided to quit life in the UK
It is almost two years ago that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were forced to pack up their personal belongings and hand back the keys to their UK home, Frogmore Cottage. The quaint abode was the Sussexes’ first royal residence, bestowed upon them by the late Queen Elizabeth in 2019. The couple splashed out on a major refurbishment of the five-bedroom property, initially dipping into public funds before fully reimbursing the cost.
Their stay at Frogmore Cottage, however, was fleeting; by the end of 2019, they had declared their intention to step back from royal duties and by 2020, they had decamped to Montecito, California. Since relocating to the US, the Sussexes have openly criticised the Royal Family in various American media interviews, stirring considerable tension that shows no sign of abating.
It led to the couple being asked to hand back the keys to Frogmore Cootage with Harry claiming in his memoir Spare that he and Meghan were “evicted” from the property following their royal departure, prompted by a request from King Charles.
In August 2022, Meghan recounted the experience of packing away her belongings from Frogmore Cottage. And in an interview with The Cut, she cryptically told how while packing she found a diary and expressed her surprise at her past entries.
She said: “You go back and you open drawers and you ‘re like, Oh my gosh. This is what I was writing in my journal there?” Her trip down memory lane raised concerns over potential new disclosures. .
It came after she also said in the same interview: “It’s interesting, I’ve never had to sign anything that restricts me from talking. I can talk about my whole experience and make a choice not to.” When asked by the interviewer why she hasn’t indulged anyone about her true experience, Meghan replied that she was “still healing”.
“I think forgiveness is really important. It takes a lot more energy to not forgive. But it takes a lot of effort to forgive. I’ve really made an active effort, especially knowing that I can say anything.”
Speaking at the time on True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat, Sunday Times Royal Editor Roya Nikkhah said Meghan had issued “thinly veiled threats” and hinted that a memoir could be on the cards in the future. She explained: “The thinly veiled threats that came in [Meghan’s interview with The Cut] …I think [she] probably hopes it does [feel threatening] to the Royal Family…
“[But] I think there’s a lot of eye-rolling, going, ‘We’re used to this by now’… [But] that phrase, ‘I have a lot to say until I don’t’ and, ‘I’ve never signed anything that restricts me from talking’… there was a very strong inference there.
“And, of course, the reminder that she keeps a journal, and [her] revelation that, ‘when we came back to Windsor, to Frogmore Cottage for the Jubilee, I rediscovered my journal that I’d left there’ – I was astonished to discover that she had left a highly private diary behind in Windsor, rather than taking it back.
“She’s mentioned a couple of times in the last year or two that she kept a journal, and I think there is a very strong inference that Meghan could write her own memoir.”
In a recent podcast interview, Meghan touched on releasing a potential memoir. During a chat on the Jamie Kern Lima Show, Jamie asked Meghan, who has already written a children’s book called The Bench, if she would release another book. And she revealed: “Yes, maybe, for sure.” However, she added: “And then, you know, I think people are often curious if I’m going to write a memoir, but I’ve got a lot more life to live before I’m there.”
