Harry and Meghan secretly buy home in upscale Santa Barbara community, will have Oprah and Ellen as neighbors
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have bought their first-ever home after leaving the royal family in March and are planning to settle down as a family in California's Santa Barbara, a source has revealed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex officially stepped down from their royal duties earlier this year and had initially moved to a home in Canada's Vancouver Island before finding a residence in Los Angeles.
It was thought that the couple was still staying at that residence -- Tyler Perry's $18 million, 12-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion in Beverly Hills -- but a source told Page Six that they have been staying at their own home in an upscale community in Santa Barbara, which is home to the likes of Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres for the last six weeks.
"They are not houseguests of Oprah or anyone else, they bought this home themselves," she source said. "This is where they want to continue their lives after leaving the UK. This is the first home either of them has ever owned. It has been a very special time for them as a couple and as a family — to have complete privacy for six weeks since they moved in. They intend to put down their roots in this house and the quiet community, which has considerable privacy. This is where they want to bring Archie up, where they hope he can have as normal a life as possible."
The source did not share the location of the home or its price, citing security concerns, but did insist that the couple had "thought about this carefully and researched it well" and that "this is the place where they plan to be happy, make good friends and bring up Archie, giving him the chance to play with other children his age."
While it may have seemed like Harry and Meghan wanted to settle in Los Angeles so they could stay close to Hollywood and its numerous A-listers, the source said their stay in the city was always going to be a temporary one. The source said they were also upset about paparazzi who photographed Archie with Meghan's mom Doria Ragland in the private driveway of their mansion. The photograph, which is believed to have been snapped with the help of a drone that was flown over the home, is now the subject of a lawsuit from the couple.
"Harry and Meghan are both very upset by this breach of privacy, but that wasn’t the reason they left Los Angeles," the source insisted. "They were already in the process of buying their home in Santa Barbara. While it was a nice favor to them at a very difficult time, Tyler Perry’s house with 18 bedrooms isn’t Harry’s style. Yes, he grew up in royalty and the halls of Buckingham Palace, but he prefers more intimate homes with character."
Their new residence was confirmed by a spokesperson for the couple, who told Page Six: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into their family home in July of this year. They have settled into 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."
