Prince Andrew refuses King Charles’ offer to move into Frogmore Cottage, once cherished by Prince Harry and Meghan, fueling fresh royal drama

The quiet walls of Frogmore Cottage in Windsor may no longer echo with royal footsteps, but they have certainly stirred royal tempers. Prince Andrew, the scandal-tainted Duke of York, has flatly refused to move into the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — despite a gentle nudge from King Charles III himself.

The once-happy residence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex now stands symbolically in the centre of yet another royal tug-of-war. King Charles, facing mounting pressure to slim down the monarchy and realign finances, offered Frogmore Cottage to Prince Andrew in hopes he would downsize from the grand Royal Lodge — an estate with sprawling grounds and a £250,000-a-year upkeep bill.

But Andrew, reportedly seeing Frogmore as “not grand enough”, turned down the offer without flinching. The decision arrives amid heightened scrutiny over Andrew’s continued occupation of Royal Lodge, especially as his public standing remains diminished following his connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

In contrast, Frogmore Cottage once glowed with the warmth of newlywed bliss. In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry described the home in poetic terms. “We loved that place,” he wrote. “From the first minute. It felt as if we were destined to live there.” He recounted peaceful strolls through the gardens, exchanges with Queen Elizabeth’s beloved gardeners, and even comical encounters with a cantankerous swan named Steve.

It was, to Harry and Meghan, a haven. Despite their tumultuous relationship with the Royal Family, they found solace there, away from cameras and formalities. The couple moved into the cottage after their 2018 wedding but vacated it less than two years later when they stepped back from royal duties and settled in Montecito, California.

Their time at Frogmore was brief but cherished. They renovated the property extensively — a move once criticised due to the public funds initially used, later reimbursed by the couple. The cottage stood as a symbol of both independence and attachment; even after their explosive departure from royal life, they retained ties to the residence until 2023 when they returned the keys.

Now, King Charles’ gesture to offer the house to Andrew appears to have backfired, igniting whispers of deeper rifts. The proposal was reportedly a practical one — an attempt to rein in expenses and present a modern, scaled-back monarchy. But Andrew’s defiance sends a clear message: the disgraced prince refuses to shrink, even in stature.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s offhand four-word review, “We loved that place,” casts a quiet irony over the rejection. The home that once cradled love and renewal is now deemed unfit for a man who clings to his fading titles.

This standoff also highlights a growing generational and ideological gap within the monarchy. Harry, once mocked for seeking privacy and detachment, appears to have accepted simpler living arrangements — while Andrew, entrenched in tradition and scandal, resists change at every turn.

Though the walls of Frogmore remain silent, the message they now carry speaks volumes.