Royal Family News
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly looking to sell their 14 million dollar Montecito mansion after just 18 months of living there.
According to an exclusive story from the Sunday Mirror, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have begun making private inquiries about selling the estate.
While they like the Santa Barbara area, they are not particularly thrilled with their house and its location in the community.
The source told the Sunday Mirror that the couple has begun to show interest in other houses in the area and are open to private offers.
However, it won't be on the market because of who they are.
It's only being shown to people who are confirmed with funds and are serious buyers.
The Sussexes purchased the house in June 2020 from Russian businessman Sergei Grishin, five months after announcing that they were leaving royal duties.
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They arrived in California at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and stayed for three months in the luxury Los Angeles mansion of producer and actor Tyler Perry, who also provided the couple with a full security detail, as they told Oprah Winfrey in their interview last year.
Their Montecito estate boasts nine bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, a swimming pool, tennis court, tea house, private playground, spa with a dry and wet sauna, private movie theater, arcade and games room, wine cellar, and a five-car garage.
The Sussexes chose to move up to Santa Barbara County to gain some distance from invasive paparazzi and to be close to celebrity friends including Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.
The couple was also looking for a more family-friendly area to live.
They recently enrolled Archie in a local preschool, where both parents have been seen dropping him off with a space-themed lunchbox, according to the Mirror.
A parent of one of Archie's classmates said, “Harry often drops Archie off and picks him up and seems like a good dad.
All the parents have been laid back in welcoming Harry and Meghan, without making a fuss.
And to the other kids, Archie is just one of them.”
Despite living in Santa Barbara County, Harry and Meghan have struggled to maintain total privacy on their property.
The Daily Mail reported in April that the Sheriff's Department had to respond to nine calls from their estate, including twice for a trespasser and five times when their alarm system was triggered.
The cost of maintaining such a large property comes with a high price tag, according to a 2020 report by The Telegraph.
Like other Californians, Harry and Meghan were likely hit with a huge property tax bill.
They must also pay for staff, security, and a mortgage payment that could be as high as $24,000 a month.
Harry and Meghan seemed to be happy with the house and have given fans brief glimpses of it during several media appearances.
Meghan invited the public to view her home office when she hosted a video chat with Melissa McCarthy on her 40th birthday to launch her 40 by 40 initiative.
In other news, a pro-monarchy journalist has accused Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's biographer Omid Scobie of whipping up anger against Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton.
The author of Finding Freedom was criticized by Richard Eden after he wrote an article for UK.style.yahoo.com.
Scobie wrote, “Despite spending over $5.40 on turning Kensington Palace into a forever home, the Cambridges are leaving London this month for a new property in Windsor.
Was it all a waste of sovereign grant funding?”
Commenting on the article, Eden, who writes for the Daily Mail, said, “I see Omid Scobie is desperately trying to whip up anger against the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, again.”
Without naming Richard Eden, Omid reacted to his allegation, saying, “All the time in the world to tweet nonsense but not even a few minutes spent reading the actual article they've chosen to cry about.”
As for Harry and Meghan, it remains to be seen where they will move next.
For now, they are focused on finding a new home that better suits their needs and preferences.