Meghan Markle, 45, is reportedly insisting on nine bedrooms and a private film studio for the family’s new English countryside estate.
The Duchess of Sussex arrived in Britain this week with Prince Harry, 40, and their children Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, touching down at Birmingham Airport on Wednesday via private jet before departing in a convoy of blacked-out SUVs. Rather than settling into their own property, the family is currently staying indefinitely in the spare house of a wealthy friend on the edge of the Cotswolds while their real estate search continues.
Three separate sources said that despite earlier reports of a $16.2 million property being locked in, no deal has actually closed. The couple is reportedly working with what one associate described as a “gargantuan budget,” even as their Hollywood production deals have cooled.
Harry’s own requirements are equally specific. He wants “a lot, and I mean a lot of land, and no footpaths going across it to protect their privacy,” according to the reported wish list. The privacy demands echo the couple’s long-standing concerns since stepping back from royal duties in 2020.
Friends insist the Sussexes are not selling their $15 million Montecito compound, meaning they could soon be juggling three properties: the California mansion, an $8.5 million vacation home in Portugal, and whatever nine-bedroom trophy house they land in the Cotswolds. The Montecito property carries a mortgage and tax bill north of $600,000 a year, with monthly mortgage payments between $40,000 and $43,000 and 2025 property taxes totaling $149,668, before security, insurance or upkeep.
Douglas Elliman broker Jason Streatfeild told The Post he has “a strong feeling that it’s already being discussed and shown,” and explained that deals like this typically happen off-market. “Many times properties like this will trade off-market with a nondisclosure agreement signed and all of the terms sealed until the property records at the county,” he said.
A person in the Santa Barbara luxury market told The Post there “have been rumblings” that the couple might quietly offload the Montecito estate, noting “every broker wants that listing.”
Insiders describe the move to England as a full reset, with friends calling it “Finding Freedom 2,” referencing the 2020 biography about their original royal exit. One friend said the appeal this time is that Harry gets to live in the UK as a private citizen rather than a working royal.
“They will have more freedom now — it is like finding freedom again,” the friend said.
Another associate close to the couple was more blunt about why California didn’t work out, telling the outlet “he had no life in California, no friends. There was no common ground with anyone.”
Meghan is reportedly eyeing the future film studio as a way to keep her As Ever brand alive from British soil, even though the product line currently doesn’t ship to the UK. One source predicted she “won’t be able to resist building a film studio at their new home” and will end up producing “home making content” once she’s settled.
“That is the heart of who she is,” the source added.
The children’s schooling appears to be the one area where the couple is dialing back showbiz instincts. A friend said that academics are “very low on the list” for Archie and Lili, with the priority instead being “a nurturing atmosphere” and an “outdoorsy and sporting ethos” that mirrors Harry’s own happy years at Ludgrove prep school.
Harry has said publicly he’s not rejoining royal life, just bringing his children back for the British school experience. A source says he intends to be a “full-time dad” while Meghan continues splitting time between continents to keep her business interests running.
The couple left Britain in 2020 describing the royal family and British press as hostile, making their return with such elaborate housing demands a notable reversal. The nine-bedroom specification happens to match the exact bedroom count at their Montecito compound, suggesting Markle is not downsizing her US lifestyle for the “English countryside dream.”
The Sussexes are expected to remain in their temporary Cotswolds accommodation while the property search continues.