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Harry and Meghan leave Thanksgiving service, 2022© Getty

Prince Harry reveals what he and Meghan really thought about Frogmore Cottage

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have officially vacated their Windsor home

Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
July 1, 2023
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have officially vacated their UK residence, Frogmore Cottage, it was announced by Buckingham Palace earlier this week.

Back in March, a spokesperson for Prince Harry, 38, and Meghan Markle, 41, confirmed that the couple had been asked to move out of the Grade-II listed property.

The Sussexes moved to the US in 2020 after stepping back as senior royals, but up until now, they had kept Frogmore Cottage as their UK base. Harry is believed to have stayed at the Windsor abode for his three visits this year, but it's not known where he, Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie, four, and two-year-old Princess Lilibet, will stay in future.

The four-bedroom house on the Frogmore estate in Windsor was gifted to the Duke and Duchess by Harry's late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The couple moved in just weeks before the birth of their son Archie in May 2019.

Writing in his memoir, Spare, which was published in January, Harry described how the couple felt about the move.

"Meg and I moved our office into Buckingham Palace. We also moved into a new home. Frogmore was ready. We loved that place. From the first minute. It felt as if we were destined to live there," he said. "We couldn't wait to wake up in the morning, go for a long walk in the gardens, check in with the swans. Especially grumpy Steve. We met the Queen's gardeners, got to know their names and the names of all the flowers. They were thrilled at how much we appreciated, and praised, their artistry."

MORE:  Prince Harry and Meghan Markle set for big family celebration?

A picture of Frogmore Cottage© PA Images
Harry and Meghan's former home, Frogmore Cottage, in Windsor
harry meghan frogmore cottage© Netflix
Harry and Meghan shared a glimpse inside Frogmore Cottage in their Netflix series

Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries, released last December, also captured the moment the couple packed up their belongings as they prepared for their US move, and it appeared to be bittersweet for them.

WATCH: -Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bittersweet packing up at Frogmore Cottage caught on camera

Frogmore Cottage held some special memories for the Sussexes. The property is a stone's throw from Frogmore House, which is where Harry and Meghan danced the night away at their wedding reception in May 2018.

It's also the first place they raised their son, Archie, after bringing him home for the first time from the Portland Hospital in London, where he was born on 6 May 2019.

Meghan and Harry cradling Prince Archie when he was a baby © Getty
Archie's first home was Frogmore Cottage

And while Lilibet was born in Santa Barbara, California on 4 June 2021, the little girl celebrated her milestone first birthday at Frogmore Cottage, when Harry and Meghan returned to the UK for the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations last summer.

Prince Harry Meghan Markle Princess Lilibet blowing cake© Netflix
Lilibet celebrated her first birthday at Frogmore Cottage

The proud parents held a tea party in the garden, with a pink tiered cake made by their wedding cake baker, Claire Ptak of Violet Cakes.

Harry and Meghan bought their first family home in Montecito near Santa Barbara, in June 2020.

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