King Charles must “feel like he scored an own goal” as he “didn’t think about the consequences” when kicking Prince Harry and Meghan Markle out of Frogmore Cottage, a royal commentator has claimed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were ordered to evict the property in Windsor back in early 2023 after Harry released his bombshell memoir, Spare, in a move which essentially left them with no base in the UK. Harry and Meghan as well as their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have not travelled back to the duke’s home country as a family since 2022, when they attended the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Now royal author Tom Quinn touched down on the King’s relationship with his grandchildren and said the monarch’s move caused a “huge amount of resentment” from the Sussex camp. He told the Mirror: “King Charles feels he scored an own goal by kicking Meghan and Harry out of Frogmore cottage – the decision caused a huge amount of resentment – and Charles didn’t really think through what the consequences might be in terms of his grandchildren having no base in the UK.
“That without Frogmore, Meghan and Harry would be much less likely to bring their children to the UK.” But he said that the King has always been sensitive about what a slimmed-down monarchy means about whether non-working royals should enjoy the same privileges as working royals. He explained: “On the other hand, Charles has long been very sensitive about any criticism that non-working members of the Royal Family should enjoy the privileges of the slimmed-down team.
“His priority is making the monarchy seem value for money in a world where royal spending is always under the spotlight.” Mr Quinn added: “Leaving Meghan and Harry to enjoy Frogmore Cottage for a few weeks or months each year was never going to happen – Charles just didn’t want to risk the fallout for allowing it.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as working royals in 2020, when they quit the Firm and moved to the US to start a new life with their young family. Since then, their relationship with the Royal Family has been increasingly degrading with the duke being absent from most important royal events.
