I thought it was interesting that we received no reports, no gossip, and no photos of or about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex last week, Thanksgiving week. There was so much conversation and hype around the Sussexes’ “six weeks off” and where they would go, or if they would stay at Frogmore Cottage and simply ask Doria Ragland to fly to them. Since we didn’t get any photos or gossip about the Sussexes in California last week, I started to suspect that they actually did stay in England and brought people to them. But according to Omid Scobie (a royal reporter who gets good leaks from Team Sussex), the Sussexes were out of the country. Hm.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent Thanksgiving ‘celebrating with close family’ on a ‘long-time trip to the US’, a royal commentator claimed today. Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, are currently undertaking a six-week break from royal duties, although it has not been announced where the couple are spending their time. But speaking on The HeirPod Podcast, royal correspondent Omid Scobie revealed that the Sussexes ‘celebrated Thanksgiving privately with close family’ on a ‘long time trip to the US’. The news follows weeks of speculation that the couple would spend their first holiday as a family of three in Meghan’s hometown Los Angeles with her mother Doria Ragland.
Omid said: ‘The Sussexes are away, they’re on their break right up until Christmas. They celebrated Thanksgiving privately with close family, which is lovely.’
Speaking of the couple’s absence from this week’s reception for NATO leaders at Buckingham Palace, Royal Producer at ITV News, Lizzie Robinson, added: ‘We know they’re away, they’re not even in the country.’
Omid went on: ‘It’s a long-time trip that they’re on, I think we are really going to see them away until Christmas as far as I’m aware, which is good for them.’ And when Omid said an aide had told him the couple ‘welcomed the break’, Lizzie went on to say they also ‘probably’ welcomed ‘being away, and back home for Meghan, in the US’.
I think… that if Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan were staying at or around Doria Ragland’s LA home, there would have been photos. There would have been gossip in the American press. But obviously, there are other places to stay. If Harry and Meghan (and Archie!) are in California, you know where I think they are? Montecito!! I bet you $5 that Oprah lent the Sussexes her Montecito spread for the holidays. Oprah’s Instagram reveals that she was in Milwaukee for Thanksgiving, so it would have worked out well? And it would have afforded everyone a lot of privacy.
Also: Donald and Melania Trump are in London right now for the NATO meetings/anniversary and palace reception. The Queen will be hosting the Trumps and other NATO leaders this evening at a Buckingham Palace reception. Almost all of the royal family will attend. Except Prince Andrew. And Prince William, who is in the Middle East on a tour. And the Sussexes won’t be there either – this “six weeks off” was super-convenient for them yet again. First, they got to avoid all of the Andrew drama and now they’re avoiding the Trumps.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid and Avalon Red.
I’ve had the same thought, I get they’re in montecito.
Or Hawaii. Oprah has a lot of homes.
Another smart thing about staying at Oprah’s place, if that’s the case, is that there would already be a lot of security in place. If she were to stay at Doria’s you’d probably notice the royal protection officers and whatever officers that would be in place from the US side, so Oprah’s or someplace secluded would make it easier to allow them to fly under the radar.
Exactly. I can’t imagine that Ladera Heights would welcome all the security and paparazzi not to mention we’d have heard about all that immediately. Even though it was nice to think they were only 19 miles away while I was in L.A. visiting my family last week, they were definitely not at Doria’s house. Not a pragmatic or secure option.
If they stayed at Oprah’s maybe there was an interview or something, for later consumption.
Whether it’s oprah or ellen or hillary or some billionaire they hooked up with at google camp, we can be certain the sussexes are being fully hosted by a rich celebrity somewhere because royals gonna royal. At least this proves that if they want privacy, they can get it.
It shows that when they do not tell any other royals their travel plans, they aren’t betrayed.
Possible. As far as possible from the long fingers of the press and the trolls, better. But I can’t stop wonder how curious it is: all the state dinners and big events in BP, H&M are not near. The first time I got surprised by this was the nice dinner, all tiaras and ball dresses gowns after their wedding. Doesn’t make sense: they were newly married, it was an important state dinner and they were shipped far away. I mean, it would be logical if she was introduced to a big event of the palace’s life (protocol and etc…). But then, it just happened over and over again. No opportunity for MM use a ball gown or a tiara. And if I remember well, not only when Trump was around.
Why would everyone think of Oprah, when her BFF Serena can accommodate her in any of her property? Yes, Serena Williams is heavily invested in real state properties.
I love that they are away and won’t be there for trumpie’s big fat royal visit. And why shouldn’t andrew be there? They are old mates! why, andrew and trumpie have a lot to catch up on.
Andrew has been specifically banned from hanging out with Trump by the Queen (Probably Charles in reality).
The royal family doesn’t want to give Andrew the opportunity to reminisce with Trump about the ‘good old days’ with their mutual pal, Jeffery Epstein.
Kerwood is right. The press put out something about Trump being involved. They are afraid T and A together, given the big mouth of one and stupidity of the other, spit out something to keep silent about. And Express gave us a very candid article about the royal Mette-Marit being so sorry to have being friends with Epstein. Strangely, the reasons for such friendship was not declared; charity? Soccer game? Planes? Maybe another sport?
I hope they had a lovely holiday and a great Christmas but who cares where they are. It is really none of anyone’s business and they deserve privacy too.
I will say that if they are at Doria’s house I could see no pictures because the neighbors have known her for so long and probably want to protect her privacy. I would for long time neighbors.
It’ s not the neighbors that would be the problem. Doria has had to deal with the paps showing up from time to time. They are definitely keeping tabs on her place and we would have pictures by now if they were there.
Is the 6th or 7th in line really expected to be at these State dinners?
I love that no one knows where the Sussexes are. It means they have people they can trust around them who aren’t leaking like faucets.
The palace courtiers must be livid they can’t control the flow of information and therefore have no leverage over Meghan and Harry. I think the Sussexes are making it obvious that courtiers aren’t really necessary.
I don’t think this is a state dinner, its described as a reception (so not white tie, no tiaras.) and in general I think if Harry were around he might attend this, but no, he doesn’t always attend state dinners or the diplomatic reception in December. That’s why it was kind of eye-roll worthy when there was so much handwringing over Harry missing the state dinner with the Trumps. I think he’s only attended a handful of state dinners, so missing one really wasn’t a big deal overall.
Harry’s gone to like… one (1) of these state dinners so I don’t expect them to go to much in the future until Charles is King
@Aurora
Edward goes to these events and he’s 11th in the line.
BTW even the Countess of Wessex will not be at the reception.
Princess Anne, Sophie, Prince Edward, Princess Alexandra, Princess Michael, all of these individuals are far removed from the throne, and many of them show up at state dinners. If Harry doesn’t go to many when Charles is king, it’ll be perhaps because he doesn’t host as many as the Queen does.
The Queen needs a lot of help. I see the Sussexes doing a lot more of these types of events in the near future.
Well, wherever they went I hope they had some peaceful time and were surrounded by support.
That’s funny I was thinking the same thing, that they were at Oprah’s place in Monticeto. There was something on Yahoo that she just bought a place there that belonged to some other actor and I thought, wouldn’t it be something if that is where the Sussexes stayed, lol. Who knows, though, I just hope they are having a wonderful time.
I think she just bought Jeff Bridges’ place?
She did. It was between two of her homes I think.
As it should be. Let the queen and Charles deal with Trump’s ass.
Exactly. I don’t think Kate should have to deal with him either. He made comments about her nude photos (taken without her permission). None of the younger royals should have to deal with this animal.
The NATO dinner will also have Macron and Trudeau there so not everyone will have to deal with the orange idiot.
@Nic919: And Macron and Trudeau can barely contain their loathing for him.
Looking forward to more Melania/Trudeau contact….LOL!
@Moose — I’ll bet Melania is, too!
Let’s take a vacation on speculating about where they are. Just accept that they are on a break.
I dunno about Oprah’s house, but I do think they probably rented (or borrowed) a house for the holiday – someplace relatively private – and they are just enjoying their down time.
And as things go on, with Andrew and now the NATO meeting, they really do look like geniuses for taking this break lol.
I read somewhere that children from her school in SA are staying at her house.
I don’t really care wherever they are but I hope they enjoy the break and get some peace and quiet
I truly believe they spent Thanksgiving with Oprah. She has been posting stories on Instagram during the lead up to Thanksgiving (it seems she had a pre-Thanksgiving with her nieces that she posted on Nov 24, not Thanksgiving day) and went dark for Thanksgiving and after, which isn’t her M.O. She usually posts her chef cooking the turkey. Only thing she posted was the set-up and there was A LOT of table settings. That’s all I got to prove the Sussexes and Doria were celebrating with Oprah.
I was thinking the same thing.
Oooh I love that idea. I can see the Sussexes arriving and Oprah dancing them in.
It would sit funny with me if someone like Oprah or another famous person was now soooo friendly with me just because I married a prince. Oprah wasn’t buddies with Meghan the cable tv actress.
Meghan has so many loyal friends from before she was involved with Harry – I hope that’s where they are.
I understand your feelings. But Megan’s marriage catapulted her into the fame stratosphere. Now she needs another mega-star like Oprah, who has already learned how to ensure her own privacy and security, to provide a safe haven. Maybe some of her old friends have been invited to visit wherever she’s staying, but that could compromise their privacy. Loose lips, etc.
I read that Oprah and Gayle go to the same church as Doria and that is where the connection was established. They aren’t said to have met after Meghan started seeing Prince Harry.
I think that Oprah foresaw the problems that Doria and Meghan would have, as ordinary black people catapulted into white English aristocratic circles. Oprah decided that they needed a rich powerful person on their side, and she stepped in to provide that support. She may even be one of Archie’s godparents.
I never will forget the look on Oprah’s face at the wedding when she entered the Church…it was, ‘ You lot of snobs will not intimidate me….and look high powered successful blacks do exist!’
I’ll bet if the Sussexes’ + Doria DID spend Thanksgiving with Oprah, either the Sussexes or Oprah will post a picture of them all together then, a few weeks after the end of the whole holiday season, especially if Oprah regularly posts about her Thanksgiving on IG. Posting any pictures after the event keeps the privacy and their location a secret until long after it’s all over. Maybe Omid even has an exclusive scoop about it, just like he did the Baby Shower.
I like that we don’t know where they went/are just like we still don’t know for sure where they went for their honeymoon. They get to retain the privacy they’re (rightfully) fighting for. I hope they’re doing well wherever they are.
They look like PR geniuses now, no leaks, no response to the Andrew debacle – just living their lives.
The fact that the courtiers keep trying to bring them back into the narrative makes me think they need the Sussex’ more than the Sussex’ need them.
Meghan and Harry are smart and know how to plan ahead. They knew about the NATO visit and planned accordingly to avoid that blow hard.
I hope they had a nice holiday wherever.
With all the ugly Prince Andrew criminal behavior, I would find someplace very far away from that.
Harry & his family can call and say Hi to the BRF, thats what phones are for.
Lots of us IRL, do this at holidays. Works great for me!
I am guessing that the BP & CH brokered a deal with the paps and tabloids that the Sussexes would be off limits whilst Meg visits family and friends in the UK, especially given she can’t call, text or write to them without fear of interception. On that note one day we will find out the true extent of the hacking by the tabloids in the UK over all forms of media.
FYI none of the junior Royals (aka Will, Harry, Kate or Meg) are attending Trump’s visit. I also now strongly believe that the ‘six-week break’ news was deliberately put out there as soon as they knew Trump was visiting. I am guessing that Trump had demanded to meet the younger Royals (not just Meg) to use as propaganda clips for his up coming campaign but BP put a stop to that ambition.
I think Kate is going
Earlier someone posted that William was on a Tour in the Near East?
Which means Kate will have no status/rank at the dinner. We’ll see if she begs off again like she did with an engagement last week.
@ Nota, reports are Kate had a sick child. I don’t tend to stick up for her but sick children need a parent at home with them.
^^ That was actually the final “explanation” given. Initially the reports were that the children were fine, then the next excuse was that she couldn’t find a babysitter.
Three excuses in 24 hours, Kate playing games and being lazy again. At the event tonight she dragged Quinn with her and spent time flirting @ Trudeau.
Yes, Quinn was standing at Kate’s elbow throughout to ensure that her pupil correctly said what she had been coached to say about NATO. There is a short video of Kate in conversation with someone at the reception and she can be heard saying something that she has clearly been coached to say about the 70th anniversary of NATO, and Quinn is giving her a very encouraging look.
38 years old next month, nine years on this job, and she still cannot be let loose in a room filled with important people without a minder.
Why would CH and BP ask the Tabloids to lay off Meghan and Harry going on vacation, when they did not care when she was pregnant?
I think H&M know their are on their own and can’t trust anyone in the Royal households.
@Peg because right now the RF cannot afford any more scandals. A front page picture of Toxic Tom begging to see his daughter outside some complex would be disastrous, even Betty, Chuck and Billy understand that at this point.
For now Paedrew is the latest sacrificial lamb they’ve been fattening up all summer. They will let the tabs feast on him for a while until normal Sussex under the bus service resumes.
The Sussexes played their Ace card with the law suits bc no one and I mean no one in the family will fux with them now. If the papers being sued even get a whiff of distention they will go in for the kill and release all their sources for maximum carnage and RF in-fighting which will spill onto the front pages and provide us the public with entertainment for decades and seasons of the Crown to come…
Hmm, you think so? Personally I think the family and courtiers would love nothing more than to have Thomas trotted out in the headlines again. Remember that these people aren’t half as clever/PR savvy as they think they are; they’d love to see more family drama from the Markles because they think it’ll distract from their own dirt. It’s perfect bait for the British press, and the RF can look the other way as they’ve been doing when it comes to the smear campaign against Meghan. The press has been desperate to bring the Sussexes back into focus, and I don’t doubt the RF feels the same.
I think the lawsuit has scared off Toxic Tom for the moment. He’s neck deep in it with the tabloids, and the tabloids probably have put the scare on all of the Markles. We’ve seen that the letter Meghan wrote was redacted in a big way, and the tabloids have likely put the screws to the whole nasty bunch. Otherwise I think we would have heard from them, esp. b/c now the horrid sister is a full-fledged MAGA (she knows her audience)
@Beach Dreams – thanks to Brexit – the British public are just looking for someone else in the RF to hang out to dry at this moment. I think even the courtiers understand that now is a bad time to hand them another sacrificial lamb. That is not to say they started giving a shyt about H&M. I am guessing they’re realising that with Andy now retiring from public life and taking Fergie and likely Bea and Eugenie with him means they need to start fattening up some new calves, So for now H&M are safe until the next tragedy rears it’s ugly head…. aka ‘Rose’
The Sussesex are genious. No Christmas with the mess Royal Family and not Trump. I love them even more now.
Of course they are in the US for Thanksgiving. Britain doesn’t even celebrate it.
Americans can celebrate Thanksgiving anywhere, the Troops don’t come home to celebrate and they’ve a Turkey dinner on Thanksgiving every year. .
Meghan on creating good PR: “What, like it’s hard?”
British Royal Family: “well, actually it’s been a bit of a struggle for our family these last 100 years…”
I’m glad we don’t know they needed a break from the constant coverage. Hope they have a great holiday!
I feel they went to Canada for thanksgiving since they are put up the maple leaf bat signal in SussexRoyal.
Love them planning this break to avoid Trump, Andrew and the rest of the backstabbers this holiday season. Ho ho ho!
Lol, many people used the maple leaf emoji on Thanksgiving Day.
Darn it. 😊
Yeah, I took that to be just a general autumn type emoji not to signify We’re In Canada. Now if they had used a Canadian flag emoji…
I’m with ya. That is what I thought immediately. And I still believe it.
Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in the beginning of October. They’re probably with her mum in California.
Maria I am aware of when Canada celebrates the holiday. My husband is Canadian. That doesn’t mean they can’t celebrate it somewhere else. In any case it’s fun to speculate.
My only hesitation about montecito is that Santa Barbara was on fire that Tuesday through Wednesday. Air quality sucked (even in montecito) and there were evacuations outside montecito for both fire risk and flood risk. I wouldn’t have wanted my baby breathing that air.
Or maybe it was Monday through Wednesday? The holidays broke my brain.
The fire started at about 4:30 pm on Monday. My dad lives in Santa Barbara and we went up there as he was in the “evacuation warning” zone and is wheelchair bound. Our house is probably less than a mile from Montecito which was not in the warning or mandatory evac zones.
On Tuesday morning the air (outside only) felt like we were living in a barbecue pit. However, by the afternoon the winds changed direction and the fire moved north into the Los Padres National Forest as opposed to residential areas so the risk lessened and the AQ improved. The rain started Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and pretty much extinguished the fire.
Montecito was not at risk from mudslides caused by this fire. That said, Montecito has potential flood issues every time it rains given its topography.
I’m spending the week before Xmas in the Hollywood area doing all the touristy things, and not gonna lie- I’ve been looking up “places where celebrities do yoga” so maybe I catch a glimpse of Meghan if she’s still around!
I live in LA. No guarantee but look at Wanderlust for a yoga studio. Odds are good there. Also, go to groceries stories (bristol farms and whole foods), average places. The two best hotels for spotting at Sunset Tower and Chateau Marmont.
Good luck and have fun! It should be quiet since so many of us will be out of town.
I’m in Santa Monica and that’s also a good “spotting place.” In terms of hotels, I’d add the Hotel Bel Air. For restaurants, The Ivy is a great choice–especially the one in Santa Monica or Nobu in Malibu. Have fun!!!
IICR Doria taught or took classes at my old yoga studio… Yoga Works in Larchmont.
Thank you for the recommendations!! I’m going to hit all the hotspots I can!
They have great timing not being around this Andrew mess.
Crazy that they just kick one pedophile out of the palace last week and have to host another one this week!
They are at the estate Oprah bought from Jeff Bridges is my guess. Its very set back and very private. Easy to have security there and no one would notice.
I’m guessing they are not even in the US. Instead I am guessing they’re in a Private location somewhere like St Barts like most of the Rf at this time of year.
I dunno but that seems very Harry and Meg.
I think they are staying at a wealthy/celebrity friends home that has lots of security. Friends like Elton John who would want to help them out. I am glad their whereabouts has not leaked so we can’t have the private jet shaming and other abuses in the tabloids.
Something pinged for me when the Obamas posted a Thanksgiving photo from a warm locale. They were always able to have lovely private holidays in Hawaii and that’s another place where M&H&A could have headed to (and utilized security measures that were already established, thanks to the Secret Service.) Plus, you know Harry and Michelle are friends and she wants to get some Archie snuggle time.
The Obamas were in Chicago for thanksgiving. They go to Hawaii for the Christmas time break. The picture you saw was from sasha’s prom last year.
Good for them, and I hope their whereabouts remain a mystery for the duration of their vacation. They’re certainly doing well to avoid the dumpster fires (Andrew and now the Trump visit).
I think it’d be hilarious if the reception was billed as the Royal Family but trump and Melania showed up and it was ONLY Prince Andrew.
To me Montecito is a very logical choice. They could fly into Van Nuys airport via private jet as tons of celebs do. From there it’s an hour plus to Santa Barbara/Montecito–depending upon traffic and the driver. My pedal to the metal brother can do Santa Monica to SB in an hour!! The airport and SB/M cater to wealthy people who want discretion. When I read the Montecito theory, the first thing that I thought of was that Harry and Meghan would be in a very private place but a mere drive away from her friends, Mom, etc. in LA. (that last sentence didn’t come out quite right–what I’m trying to say is they’d be in a secure location that’s also easy for LA peeps to drive up and hang with them)
SB airport handles a lot of private planes as well
I’m so happy the RRs and trash tabloids have NOTHING!! They planned this brilliantly and got to avoid the fall out of Andy’s interview and trump visit(p.s: the Sussexs dont attend these events ex;not going to the diplomatic reception last year)
I said on Twitter that I kinda hope they state-hop if they come to the US for their 6 week break, and I still hope that. Thanksgiving in the LA area, Christmas in Hawaii and, if they stay through the new year, then New Years at Martha’s Vynard. State hopping would keep any paps trying to find them guessing.
And yes, with the State visit from The Orange Menace, they again look smart AF for the timing of this break.
All i need is for a pic of Meghan with her hair natural. A pic of her, Harry and the baby with the Obama’s in Hawaii so that every racist can spontaneously combust with hate.
I want to notice that Meghan’s ex – the chef gave a short and very polite, classy response about Meghan. It turns out that sometimes your ex can be way better than your family.
@Liriel When the 72MPs posted the letter supporting Meghan, Cory’s mum tweeted her support too. Just amazing contrast with her own father& in-laws
Good to know, it’s a pity that it’s not mentioned more often. They didn’t sell her out, support her instead. How classy. What a contrast indeed.
Great!
And of course this non-news gets the most comments on the Fail, and they even name-check them in the NATO visit article as well. Don’t really care where they are but glad they are far away from the UK. Also, why only mention Trump visiting when France and Germany there? Such myopic coverage. Anyway, I would love for them to do a pap walk through LAX when they return just to whip everyone up and be petty. 🤣
Being petty is why I want them to show up somewhere like in the stands to watch one of the Christmas Day NBA games like the Lakers vs Clippers game or something. Show what a fun and good time they’re having on Christmas Day instead of having to do a pap walk at Sandringham with Andrew.
They deserve privacy and down time, too. I’m more concerned with getting new pics of the adorable Master Archie, especially with Harry holding him. The last photo I saw of those two together was when Archie was an infant. It would do me a world of good to see this father/son duo in a new photo. Such love there.
They do need privacy and frankly l don’t mind if l don’t see another picture of Archie until his first birthday. I really don’t want this child to be over exposed. We all know he has great parents and the best of care, nothing more l need to know.
Agree. He’s a private citizen and we have no rights to him.
Harry es un imbecil,
I recently had a thought that, although likely not at all probable, one day the sussexes might choose to completely withdraw from public life. Can you imagine them going Bill Simmons on everyone? Harry in ten years shopping for groceries and someone remarking “you kind of look like Prince Harry but older and not as tall.” 😂