The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were given two royal residences to call home during their time as senior working royals, but the couple reportedly had their sights set on Windsor Castle before being gifted Frogmore Cottage by the late Queen
After their 2018, Meghan reportedly asked if she and Prince Harry could live in Windsor Castle(Image: Getty Images)
Despite serving as a senior working royal for just a handful of years, Meghan Markle experienced life at the highest level during her stint in the Firm, benefiting from all the privileges that accompany membership of the Royal Family.
Following her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018, the Sussexes occupied two royal residences, despite less than two years passing between their wedding day and their explosive departure from the Firm in 2020. Prior to their high-profile Windsor wedding, Meghan settled in with Harry at his modest Nottingham Cottage residence on the Kensington Palace estate, which is where he proposed to his future wife.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duchess of Sussex (Image: PA)
Several months after they exchanged vows, the pair then moved to Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, having been presented with the property by the late Queen Elizabeth II. While the Duke and Duchess ultimately grew very attached to Frogmore Cottage, The Times reported that the newlyweds initially hoped for a different royal residence to make their home.
Meghan was believed to have aspired to reside at Windsor Castle, with the Sussexes enquiring whether “living quarters could be made available after their marriage”. The late Queen is said to have “firmly” declined this possibility, as she considered the request “inappropriate”, given that at the time, only the Queen and Prince Philip maintained private apartments within the castle.
Royal author and historian Hugo Vickers previously told The Times: “There are empty bedrooms and suites in the private apartments which the Sussexes may have had their eye on, or perhaps some former living quarters in the castle grounds converted into other things. But I can see how it might not be entirely appropriate to have a young family living there.”
The late Queen denied Meghan Markle’s request to live in Windsor Castle (Image: Getty Images)
According to royal aides, Windsor represents “a special place” for the Sussexes as that’s where they got married and where they held Archie’s christening. In a book titled The New Royals, royal expert Katie Nicholl shed light on the late Queen’s choice to hand Frogmore over to Harry and Meghan.
Quoting Lady Elizabeth Anson, who died in 2020, Katie penned: “The cottage was a big deal. The Queen’s entrance into the gardens is right next to their cottage. It is essentially her backyard, her solitude, and her privacy.
“She was giving that up in gifting Harry and Meghan Frogmore Cottage. We all thought it was very big of her. She said ‘I hope they’ll respect it’.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were deeply happy at Frogmore, as Harry wrote in his 2023 memoir Spare: “We loved that place. From the first minute. It felt as if we were destined to live there.
“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.”
