Harry and Meghan finally LEAVE Frogmore Cottage, handing over the keys six months after notice

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally left Frogmore Cottage in Windsor – six months after the King gave them their marching orders.

The last of their belongings have been shipped to California and the keys have been returned so they will be in order before tomorrow’s deadline.

The pair now have no base in the UK and may need to stay with friends or book hotels next time they return to the country, The Sun reports.

But it seems likely the couple will foot all the bills themselves, with a renewed focus on tightening royal spending.

In January it was revealed that the Sussexes had received an eviction notice on Frogmore just days after Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare was published.

The Grade II listed cottage, which has five bedrooms and is known for its homely charm, is about to be let.

It is not known whether Prince Andrew will leave the nearby 31-room Royal Lodge to move in, following suggestions the King had planned to move his brother out.

Frogmore, which has been given a £2.4 million makeover by the Sussexes, is unlikely to remain vacant for long, according to insiders.

It was presented to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present, but they only stayed in the cottage for six months.

Sir Michael Stevens said: “We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have moved out of Frogmore Cottage.”

He added that the royal family now has a “greatly improved asset”.

The prince last stayed in Frogmore when he gave evidence at a phone hacking trial earlier this month.

It is believed that he and his wife would have to negotiate a private deal with the king if they wanted to stay in a royal property again.

The money spent on renovations was paid back to taxpayers by Prince Harry.

After news of their eviction broke, the pair were said to be “actually OK” with the decision and have an “it is what it is” approach.

Meghan and Harry are said to have acknowledged that they were “very privileged” to have a home in the UK and US, but accepted that it “wouldn’t work for them.”

“The most disturbing thing was that it was a gift from Her Majesty the Queen, and it isn’t now. But it’s OK,” the source told them.

While the Sussexes stayed at Frogmore Cottage after the Queen’s death, they’ve only been there a few times since they left the UK three years ago.

Elsewhere, royal aides may be watching nervously after a three-month delay was announced for the release of a new book by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s cheerleader Omid Scobie.

Earlier today, Scobie tweeted that his new book entitled “Endgame” – a “probing investigation” into the royal family’s “struggle for survival” – would be out on November 21, three months after its original August date.

He promised the book will be filled with “unique insight, deep access and exclusive revelations.”

It is thought that the publication date could have been moved to give the author a chance to include internal material up to and including the king’s coronation.

Notably, Prince Harry sat in the third row of the ceremony at Westminster Abbey and played no formal role in the proceedings, departing after less than 24 hours in the UK.

With no sign of reconciliation between the Duke and his father and brother, a change in the publication date raises concerns that Scobie could wring every last straw out of the family’s feud.

Commenting on Scobie’s announcement today, royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams said: ‘He writes about the royal family and he’s also the unofficial spokesperson for Harry and Meghan, there will certainly be some sensational details to come. However, how well sourced are they?

“No reliable royal source would want to talk to Omid Scobie.”

The author’s previous title, Finding Freedom, dealt with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step down as senior royals.

Mr Fitzwilliams continued: ‘His book, which he co-wrote with Carolyn Durand, Finding Freedom, in which the Sussexes appeared to have collaborated despite their denials, was poorly written and pathetically inadequate.

His new book is called Endgame. Some may think the title refers to the current state of affairs of the Sussex family. It’s worth remembering that they reportedly had a four-book deal with Random House.

“Spare, Harry’s memoir, contained some very poorly reviewed passages, including the number of Taliban he killed on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.”

Following the leak of Spare in January, ex-army chief Colonel Richard Kemp called Harry’s comments “unjudged” and said soldiers are not trained to view their targets as “subhuman” – while former National Security Adviser Lord Darroch said he would have warned the Duke of announcing his death toll.

Mr Fitzwilliams added: ‘Much of Endgame probably won’t be taken seriously. It is likely to be a sensational attempt to cash in on the rift between the Sussexes and the royal family. I suspect it will be as familiar as anything from the Sussex corner.

It is believed to have been written with their approval, as Finding Freedom arguably was. What’s really concerning is what comes next. Ironically, it seems to be the Sussexes who, to quote Endgame’s blurb, are ‘fighting for survival’ and not the royal family.’

Scobie announced his second book last year, saying Endgame would “draw the curtain on an institution in turmoil — exposing the chaos, family dysfunction, mistrust, and draconian practices that threaten the future.”

According to a statement from the publisher, “On September 8, 2022, the world came to a standstill when news broke that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away.

Her death dismantled the protective shield around the world’s most famous family and saw a long-simmering crisis of confidence in the British monarchy resurface.

Now, with unique insight, in-depth access and exclusive revelations, journalist Omid Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil – exposing the chaos, family dysfunction, mistrust and draconian practices that threaten the future. .

“This is the monarchy’s endgame. Do they have what it takes to make it?”

Mr Scobie, the royal editor of US website Harper’s Bazaar, has been a hearty cheerleader for Harry and Meghan in recent years, having co-authored a deeply sympathetic biography of the couple in 2020.

He is one of the closest journalists to Harry and Meghan since their move to America.

It comes at a difficult time for Harry and Meghan, with Spotify announcing earlier this month that it would be dropping the Duchess’s podcast, Archetypes.