Prince Harry Marks Major Change to His Living Situation
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the Wheelchair Basketball Finals between the USA and France during day four of the Invictus Games on Sept. 13, 2023 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Credit - Chris Jackson—Getty Images
Prince Harry has formally listed the U.S. as his primary residence for the first time, U.K. documents show.
The update was marked in a filing for Travalyst, an eco-tourism charity founded by Harry. The notice—dated April 15, 2024—lists the royal as Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex and marks his new country of residence as the U.S. Listed on Companies House, a U.K. government agency, Harry is required to file updates on his business-related matters.
While the change of state was listed this week, it is dated to June 29, 2023, the same day Buckingham Palace reportedly confirmed that Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, had vacated their U.K. residence at Frogmore Cottage.
The couple left the U.K. after they stepped back as senior working royals in early 2020. After a brief stay in Canada, they transitioned to the U.S., taking up residence in a multimillion dollar mansion in Montecito, California, in 2020. They live with their two children Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.
Frogmore Cottage, situated near Windsor Castle, was gifted to Harry and Meghan by the late monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, after their 2018 nuptials. In 2020, the couple repaid £2.4 million ($2.99m) of taxpayers’ money from the Sovereign Grant that was previously used to renovate the cottage. But in March 2023—months after ascending the throne—King Charles formally requested that they vacate the property.
The request became public after Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare was published. The bestselling book contained a number of shocking claims about Prince William, as well as the King and Queen Camilla.
“We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage. The Duke and Duchess have repaid the expenditure incurred by the Sovereign Grant in relation to the renovation of Frogmore Cottage, thus leaving the Crown with a greatly enhanced asset,” Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens said at the time, per The Independent.
Harry has returned to the U.K. a number of times since he left, attending the funeral services for Prince Phillip in 2021, and Queen Elizabeth in 2022. He has also returned to the U.K. to participate in various lawsuits against the British tabloid publishers, and to visit King Charles since he was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer in February.
In an interview with Good Morning America in February, Harry told journalist Will Reeve that his time in the U.S. has been “amazing” and he would consider becoming a U.S. citizen. “It’s a thought that has crossed my mind, but certainly not something that is a high priority right now,” the royal said.
The news of Harry’s formal country of residence comes a month after a federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to submit documents pertaining to Prince Harry’s visa for review. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, sued the government department for failing to produce documents on Harry’s citizenship under the Freedom of Information Act. The foundation believes Harry’s may have lied about drug use on his visa application, after he admitted to previous recreational drug use in his memoir.
Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com.
