The Sussexes have finally found a home to call their own! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now homeowners. The two have purchased a home in picturesque Santa Barbara. It's located about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.
A representative for the couple confirmed the happy news to People magazine. "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."
The couple has moved quite a bit throughout the last year. Earlier this year, they spent months on Canada's Vancouver Island. They then relocated to Los Angeles, where they stayed at a home owned by Tyler Perry. Now they have finally found their home and can truly settle down and into the next phase of their lives.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had a wild year, even by 2020's standards. The year began with the couple announcing their intention to step back as senior members of the royal family. The news was a major shock to everyone, despite the tough times the couple had experienced since they'd married.
As they figured out their next steps, the couple stayed in a home on Vancouver Island in Canada. People speculated that the couple might make that country their home base. Harry and Meghan were there for just three months before relocating to Los Angeles.
During their time in Los Angeles, the couple stayed in a home that belonged to Tyler Perry. Again, people speculated that the couple might be settled for good. They were spotted volunteering in the area, and it seemed like they were getting to know, or in Meghan's case refamiliarizing herself with, the community.
The couple has now moved out of Tyler's Beverly Hills mansion. A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan confirmed with People magazine that they have bought a home in Santa Barbara:
"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."
"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," a source told Page Six.
"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."
"Harry and Meghan never intended to make Los Angeles their home. It was a good place for them to be upon their arrival in the US to be close to Meghan’s mom [who lives in LA]," the source added.
"They have thought about this carefully and researched it well. 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."
Harry and Meghan are actually getting some public well-wishes from inside the royal family. Mike Tindall, the husband of Harry's cousin Zara Tindall, commented on the move during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday.
"They're busy doing what they're doing, and I just want them to be happy with what they're doing and be happy with each other," he said.
"He's stressed that it's all about his family, so you've got to support him through that."
Some have wondered if recent troubles with photographers may have prompted Harry and Meghan's move to a lower-key locale. The couple discovered a paparazzi agency was attempting to sell photographs of Archie. While the agency attempted to say the photos were taken during a family outing in Malibu, Harry and Meghan say they were taken of Archie at home with long-lens cameras.
In late July, the couple took legal action.
"This action arises out of the relentless and quite frankly shocking efforts of the tabloid media to profit from serial intrusions on the privacy of a 14-month-old child in his own home, and the desire and responsibility of any parent to do what is necessary to protect their children from this manufactured feeding frenzy," the complaint reads, according to BuzzFeed News.
"Archie has not been in public, let alone in Malibu since the family arrived here. It is clear from a description of the photographs being shopped that they were taken of activities in the backyard of the residence, unbeknownst to the plaintiff."
"By this action, the plaintiffs seek the right to take discovery to uncover the identity of those who took the photographs and those who are seeking to profit by selling them. They also seek to put any prospective purchasers of the photos on notice that they were taken illegally and are not what they purport to be," the complaint noted.
"They are not in the public interest. They are harassment."
Hopefully, the Santa Barbara home can be the clean slate Harry and Meghan have been looking for. A community that includes Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey certainly values privacy, so the paparazzi will likely be less of a factor. They're six weeks settled in now, so it'll be exciting to see what they do next.
