Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle have secretly bought a private family home in Santa Barbara – the place they have chosen to take permanent root and raise their son Archie after leaving the British royal family.
Page Six can exclusively discover that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex lived for six weeks in their own home in the upscale California community, which is also home to their friends Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.
Too much speculation that the couple would buy a place in Los Angeles, a source told Page Six, “Harry and Meghan have been living quietly in their own home in Santa Barbara since early July.
‘They are not Oprah’s or anyone else’s owners, they bought this house themselves. This is where they want to continue their life after leaving the UK.
“This is the first house any of them have ever owned. It has been a very special time for her as a couple and as a family – to have six weeks of complete privacy since they moved.
‘They intend to lay their roots in this house and the quiet community, which has a lot of privacy. This is where they want to bring Archie, where they hope he can have as normal a life as possible. ”
The source adds “Harry and Meghan never intended to make Los Angeles their home. It was a good place for her to be near her arrival in the US to be close to Meghan’s mother [who lives in LA]. ”
The source would not disclose details of the house, such as the price they paid or the location, with indications of security, but added, “They have thought about this well and have researched it well. This is the place where they plan to be happy, make good friends and raise Archie, and give him the opportunity to play with other children his age. ”
It was widely reported that Harry and Meghan have been at the defensive end of Tyler Perry’s $ 18 million, 12-bedroom, eight-bathroom property in Beverly Hills in recent months. He was accompanied by Oprah, and is also represented by some of the team working with Meghan and Harry in LA.
But the couple launched a lawsuit against numerous paparazzi agencies after Archie was photographed with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland in the private driveway of the house. It is thought the photos were taken by a drone flying over the house.
The source added, “Harry and Meghan are both very overwhelmed by this invasion of privacy, but that was not the reason they left Los Angeles. They were already in the process of buying their home in Santa Barbara.
‘While it was a nice favor on her at a very difficult time, Tyler Perry’s 18-bedroom house is not Harry’s style. Yes, he grew up in royalty and the halls of Buckingham Palace, but he prefers intimate homes with character. ”
Their new graves will probably not be as intimate as their first wedding home in London, Frogmore Cottage. When they were first married, Harry and Meghan lived in Frogmore, a historic Grade II Listed property in Windsor, which they renovated into a move funded by British taxpayers for $ 3 million.
Santa Barbara is one of the richest communities in the US, with homes for sale for more than $ 100 million. Oprah owns a $ 90 million sprawling house in Montecito overlooking the ocean.
DeGeneres has bought a few homes in Santa Barbara – including one on the adjacent Oprah estate – but in 2017 she paid $ 18.6 million for an oceanfront home in the Carpinteria enclave, where Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis built a house on the same property street.
When reached for comment, a spokesman for the couple confirmed, ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have moved into their family home in July of this year. They have established themselves in the quiet privacy of their community since their arrival and hope that this will be respected for their neighbors as well as for them as a family. “
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