There have been so many bizarre “royal real estate” stories in recent years. The years-long shenanigans with Frogmore Cottage, the fact that Queen Camilla apparently refuses to move into Buckingham Palace, the bait-and-switch of King Charles deciding that, actually, he does want to keep Windsor Castle as one of his dozen primary homes. Personally, I think one of the biggest untold stories is “why are Prince William and Kate still living at Adelaide Cottage?” Like… William is the Prince of Wales, surely he and his family should have a much grander royal property? But instead of asking any of that, there’s still an obsessive interest in Frogmore Cottage, the small home on the Windsor Estate which was given to the Sussexes in 2018-19. Charles evicted them in 2023, thus denying a safe and secure home to his son and grandchildren if they ever visited the UK. Frogmore has sat empty ever since. Well, here’s an update:
Now that the Sussexes live in California and the property sits unused, many have wondered what the Royal Family will do with the recently renovated home. Robin Edwards, a property buying agent at Curetons, tells Marie Claire that there are multiple options for Frogmore Cottage’s future. “It is likely that the Royal Family will want to find a practical use for Frogmore Cottage rather than leave it sitting empty, as allowing a property of this scale and significance to remain vacant could be controversial,” he says.
Although the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to Montecito, they didn’t officially vacate the five-bedroom property until 2023, when their license to occupy Frogmore Cottage was not extended. As Edwards notes, “Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, took up residence at the cottage from November 2020 ’til May 2022,” but the couple now lives in Portugal most of the year, while also keeping their Kensington Palace home, Ivy Cottage.
After Eugenie and Jack left, Frogmore Cottage has remained unoccupied. Multiple reports indicate that Prince Andrew was offered the home “in exchange for surrendering his lease on the nearby 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park,” Edwards says. “However, he has refused to leave his lavish mansion and move to the significantly smaller Frogmore Cottage believing it to be not grand enough for him.”
With no residents at the moment, the property expert suggests that Frogmore could be leased “to a high-profile tenant, particularly someone with strong royal connections.” Another possibility is to allow a senior member of the royal household to live there “as a grace-and-favour residence,” Edwards suggests. With diplomatic visitors meeting with The King each year—like the upcoming French state visit in July—Edwards points out that “another option would be to use it for visiting dignitaries or guests, as it would make an ideal accommodation choice for those attending events at Windsor Castle.”
The renovations on the property for Prince Harry and Meghan to live at Frogmore Cottage cost a reported £2.4 million—which the couple repaid when they moved to California—but the high cost of annual upkeep will make the Royal Family eager to find a use for the property, Edwards says.
“Considering public scrutiny over the use of royal residences, it seems likely that the family will either find a practical use for Frogmore Cottage or rent it commercially to justify its ongoing maintenance costs,” he says.
None of this is new information, although I guess it’s notable that Frogmore is STILL sitting empty, two years after Charles evicted the Sussexes out of spite. What’s also remarkable is that the Frogmore situation acts as a cover for all of the other royal real estate dramas – Charles and Camilla shuffling from various royal properties constantly, the Waleses’ secretive living situation, the fact that Prince Andrew is still hunkered down at Royal Lodge. The press is happy to act like Frogmore is the biggest f–king real estate story too, because they like to emphasize that Harry and Meghan spent all of that money to renovate the dilapidated royal property only to get evicted as soon as Harry’s father became king. The suggestion that Frogmore would be used for high-profile guests is funny – Windsor Castle literally has 1000 rooms and dozens of guest rooms. I’ve long wondered if Prince William has set himself up in the castle. Of course, I’ve also wondered if William took over Frogmore and no one admitted it.
Photos courtesy of Netflix, Backgrid.
