Omid Scobie accuses King Charles of evicting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from Frogmore Cottage in a ‘cheap attempt’ to ‘punish’ the couple for their hit Netflix series
King Charles taking Frogmore Cottage away from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was a “cheap attempt” to “punish” the couple, according to a new book by Omid Scobie.
Writing in Endgame, Mr Scobie said sources confirmed that a “significant” part of the reason Charles expelled the Sussexes was “undoubtedly” punishment after the Netflix series released last December with a series of attacks on the royal family.
The author said a source told him there was a “sense of shock and disappointment” among Harry and Meghan on the day they were told they would lose the property.
Mr Scobie claimed Frogmore was the Sussexes’ “only truly safe option when visiting Britain” because the site is surrounded by armed guards – and the couple no longer had access to royal protection, even if they paid for it yourself.
Just days after learning they were losing the house, Harry reportedly spoke to his father on the phone and said, “Do you want to see your grandchildren?”
Frogmore Cottage is located on the Home Park Estate near Windsor Castle in Berkshire (file)
King Charles III will attend a welcome for the President of South Korea in London on November 21
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in The Hague on April 17, 2022
Charles is said to have balked at a “half-hearted declaration that they would always ‘have a place to stay.'”
But Scobie said this “didn’t give Harry much hope,” according to a royal source.
It was subsequently reported that the disgraced Prince Andrew had been given Frogmore Cottage instead, which Scobie said was the ‘final blow’.
He wrote: ‘For Charles, the issue of Frogmore Cottage was not just about punishing his son, although sources say this ‘undoubtedly’ played an important role.
“It was also part of efforts to streamline the portfolio of properties used by members of the family.”
Harry and Meghan were asked to move the remaining belongings from their British home in Windsor, just weeks after Harry also criticized his family in his book Spare in January.
Mr Scobie added: ‘Remaining silent about Harry’s allegations and publicly unconcerned about his son’s welfare, while terminating his family’s lease on a secure British residence, was not a decisive action by a determined king.
Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview today airing on ABC’s Good Morning America
William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019
“It was a cheap shot from a wounded father bound by an institutional system that is often intolerant of human emotions.”
The Grade II listed Frogmore, located near Windsor Castle in Berkshire, was a gift to the couple from Harry’s grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2019, royal accounts revealed that Meghan and Harry paid £2.4 million to cover the renovation and rental of Frogmore Cottage, on the Home Park Estate.
They have only used the property a handful of times since moving to the US in 2020 after stepping down as working royals.
In June, Buckingham Palace confirmed at the annual Sovereign Grant account briefing on royal finances that Harry and Meghan had ‘left Frogmore Cottage’
The palace refused to weigh in on whether Andrew would leave his home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park and move to Frogmore.