Back in May, there was a strange story about how Frogmore Cottage has been sitting vacant for two full years. King Charles evicted Prince Harry and his family from Frogmore in January 2023, coinciding with the release of Harry’s memoir. The eviction was an explicit punishment for writing Spare, and it was one of the worst things Charles had ever done to the Sussexes. It was more than just an eviction from a home they legally leased and spent a fortune renovating – it was also about leaving Harry unprotected whenever he visited the UK, and trying to control Harry’s movements within the UK. Well, Frogmore has been vacant for more than two years and now people are wondering why the hell that is, given the UK housing crisis and Charles’s cost-cutting measures (lol).
King Charles is “sending the wrong message with Frogmore Cottage”, several years after the Sussexes evicted the property, a commentator has claimed. The King is currently pursuing cost-cutting measures across the monarchy, evidenced by the Royal Train ceasing operations after 156 years of service. Robin Edwards, property buying agent at Curetons, has spoken exclusively to GB News about Frogmore Cottage, which has sat empty since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle vacated it in 2023.
“Frogmore Cottage has become something of a symbol in the ongoing conversation around the Royal Family’s finances and whether they offer good value for money to the taxpayer,” Edwards told the People’s Channel.
He highlighted the contradiction between the empty property and the monarchy’s modernisation efforts. “With the Sussexes having vacated the property several years ago and it now sitting empty, it raises awkward questions, particularly at a time when the monarchy is trying to show it is moving with the times and cutting back other costs, such as recently announcing the decommissioning of the Royal Train.”
The timing proves particularly uncomfortable as Palace officials emphasise financial discipline. James Chalmers, responsible for the King’s financial affairs, stated that the royal household must be “disciplined and forward-looking in our allocation of funding.”
Edwards expressed concern about the practical and symbolic implications of the vacant property. “From a property perspective, leaving a high-profile home like Frogmore Cottage unoccupied sends the wrong message. It’s not just about optics, though; it’s also about practicality,” he said. He warned that empty properties face accelerated deterioration. “An empty property deteriorates faster, and in the case of Frogmore Cottage, which underwent a costly renovation not long ago, the fact that it isn’t being lived in or repurposed risks appearing wasteful.”
The property expert emphasised the poor timing given the current economic pressures. “When many people in the country are struggling with the cost of living and housing costs in particular, leaving a royal residence empty does little to help the institution’s public image.”
Edwards suggested practical solutions for the empty residence. “At the very least, the property could be made functional, whether that’s through staff housing or short-term accommodation for visiting royal guests,” he said. He concluded that the vacant property represents a significant oversight. “Leaving it sitting vacant seems a massive missed opportunity and risks reinforcing the view that the Royal Family is out of touch with the reality most people are living in.”
“The optics are bad because the property has been vacant for two years” – but what if I told you that Charles wanted these specific optics, that of the Sussexes’ beloved family home, given to them by QEII, empty and rotting? That this was always the spiteful image Charles and the royalists wanted to create, that the Sussexes were so unwelcome that Charles would evict them and then just let Frogmore sit there without any occupants forever? But as I’ve said before, at this point, I don’t even believe that Frogmore is truly unoccupied. I do wonder if William has moved in, or if William has put some of his people/staffers in there (Jason Knauf) and they’re just not saying that.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, Netflix.
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- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have handed over the keys to their UK home Frogmore Cottage to Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank. Frogmore Cottage is a historic Grade II listed home on the Frogmore Estate, part of Home Park, Windsor, England. It was built in 1801 at the direction of Queen Charlotte in the gardens near Frogmore House. A part of the Crown Estate, it is the private residence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Pictured: Frogmore Cottage BACKGRID USA 21 NOVEMBER 2020 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Ascot, UNITED KINGDOM – Members Of The Royal Family attend day two of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, England. Pictured: King Charles III, Queen Camilla BACKGRID USA 18 JUNE 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Zak Hussein / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Royals during day one of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse Featuring: Queen Camilla.King Charles III Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- Day Four of Royal Ascot Meeting 2025 Ascot Featuring: King Charles III Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 20 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- Day Four of Royal Ascot Meeting 2025 Ascot Featuring: Queen Camilla and King Charles III Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 20 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
This argument that he looks financially irresponsible because there is a housing crisis in Britain is just plain goofy. They would ever open up Frogmore to just plain Bill and Mary Jones and their 5 kids? Come on. What it does do though is make Charles look petty. Just like practically every story that has come out about him. He had a brief spurt of sympathy even from his detractors when he was diagnosed with cancer. That’s gone. Back to seeing him as a petty, petty man.
No it does make him look financially irresponsible. The lie they kept pushing when the Sussexes were evicted was that it looked bad to the taxpayer that the Sussexes didn’t live there full time even though Sussexes repayed the cost of renovations and had a valid lease that they were current on. They claimed up and down that now FC would be used and 2 years later it’s not. It’s financially irresponsible to have a valuable property that they could rent to royals, staff, or aristocrats to gain income while also asking the UK populace for millions to support them. These properties are supposed to help pay for the monarchy; not sit empty and wilting so the king can punish his son for loving his non white family.
I get that, but the point I was making is that this really still has nothing to do with the housing crisis. Just nothing. Renting out Frogmore doesn’t help anyone – it’s not like they would take whatever income the property gives them and subtract that from the sovereign grant.
He also did not mention that the Sussexes paid back all of cost those renovations. And that they were paying market-rate on their lease. It cost the crown estates easy money when they evicted the sussexes. I’m not sure about the housing crisis part except for the fact that it looks bad for the royals to have so many houses sitting empty.
By now I suppose I should be used to it, but the way they manipulate language, and therefore rhetoric, enrages me. (I am an English teacher after all). The writer takes pains to write in such a way that asserts that Charles did not, in fact, evict Harry and Meghan from Frogmore. Instead, the Sussexes “evicted the property,” according to the author. This makes zero sense—to evict means to uncover property from someone by legal means. Thus, one cannot themselves take a property from THEMSELVES by legal means. Either way, they get the word evict into the article, but don’t link it to Charles, therefore rendering him blameless, which is falsehood reinforced later in that same paragraph by stating that the Sussexes vacated the property in 2023. God, I can’t stand these writers 😭
That bothered me too! I wondered if it was a typo. I agree more with your interpretation.
He put on the mourning face for Diana. He never learned a thing a very petty man who treats his younger son. His wife and their babies so cruelly. He has the heir he deserves
Charles has secured his legacy. The way he treated the mother of his children and the way he treated her youngest son. This is what he will be remembered for.
“and risks reinforcing the view that the Royal Family is out of touch with the reality most people are living in.”
And there we have it! 😂
Over to you Republic. Lots of fat that needs to be cut with this family.
Someone is definitely living/squatting in that house under the official radar
I think so as well but who?? Paparazzi all over with cameras and not one pic of someone coming or going.
Not if it really is William or someone close to William. He would be protected by the press.
It will forever intrigue me to know what is happening or happens to FC. I hope one day to know.
I have to disagree. Chuckles looks like a vindictive bitch for Frogmore Cottage to sit empty! He evicted his own son for gods sake how vindictive can you get.
I think it was also a slap in the face to QE II, since she had “gifted” Frogmore to Harry and Meghan. Too bad she didn’t do a Charles-proof gift to them.
If Knauf is living there the tabs would love to put that in the rumor mill.
True, but deciding when, where, and how to release that particular bombshell would give them more than a bit of leverage with William.
Maybe that is the case and this is them poking the bear.
I second SarahCS’s theory.
I’ll always believe the eviction was more to do with the guaranteed security element which would enable Harry to circumvent the “bespoke” no security arrangement rather than “Spare” – they strategically used the book release timing to hide the real reason knowing the rota and UK media would run with the book angle.
Spare was a convenience, I fully agree that it was taken away to eliminate the security that came with Frogmore😒
I always loved the name of this cottage.
Frogmore Cottage is not under Duchy of Cornwall so William cannot just move in. I think he’d have to go through the Crown management that falls under the King to be granted use of the property.
It’s possible he could become a squatter and no one would dare throw him out. 🙃 🤷🏽♀️
Maybe that’s why this article is in the news, William wants to rent it for Knauf😀
I’m sure Peggy has the keys 🔑.. I am convinced that Peggy in his twistedly sick obsession has made the cottage his love nest 🪺.
I agree – there’s no way it’s empty. It’s just that whoever is occupying it, doesn’t make a good enough story to write about. If it was like Jason Knauf, the Mail would be all over it.
Will wouldn’t stay there, it is too small for him. There is also a Frogmore House near that, which is the actual residence for a royal. Wasn’t the cottage the part where the servers lived before H&M renovated it? QE2 gave Harry the smaller house and even that was too much for Charles.
Actually, what this says to me is that the royal rota and assorted hanger-on “experts” have run out of new things to write about re H+M, and, having already been given access to photograph Frogmore Cottage from VERY close up after they moved to the US, the press now wants access to the interior of the cottage so they can take photographs and analyse the contents and price up everything and compare and contrasts for the obviously stiff months ahead.
It seems that at the moment, if photographs of the interior were leaked then it would be VERY obvious who the culprits were. However, if Frogmore Cottage became a place for “visiting dignitaries” or staff to use then you can be sure that UK reporters (or their US counterparts) would find some way to “take tea” there or get a tour and document every aspect of the fixtures and fittings and any furniture H+M may have left behind.
They’re starving and need to drum up fresh clicks to pay their rents, mortgages and car loans.
I still maintain though, that it may well be the case that they *cannot* use the property at all until they have paid back every penny owed to H+M and that this is why it’s still empty.
I believe Eugenie has moved back in. Someone pointed out that the bookcases in the background of her recent podcast, resemble the ones from Frogmore cottage. If so, I wonder if she’s paying market rent the way Harry and Meghan were?
I actually don’t think it’s empty. Someone pointed out that Eugenie has been taking Zoom calls from what looks like Frogmore. The bookshelves match the shelves she had in the background when she was living there before and working from there. At that time it was write Harry and Meghan’s knowledge but this time it’s with Charles’s blessing because Eugenie has turned. The duplicitous cow has no choice, her husband barely earns any money and she doesn’t have a career and her parents are broke and her dad is a pedo with a terrible reputation and she has two young kids. There is no loyalty and I hope Harry keeps her far away. Let her go to Piers Morgan for money and comfort since she remains close to him.
recently announcing the decommissioning of the Royal Train.”
This week’s Private Eye pointed out the above tiny concession is just a sop to look good. They claim KC and co are anxious about any review of the formula for RF funding given parlous state of UK finances. Labour government need to find a lot of savings. Surely it is time to review their entire funding given the so called slimmed down working royals and the undisputed fact that two senior royals are underperforming? Gold standard was 500 engagements PA each for the real Queen and Philip and Charles and Anne. Why give the same funding to slacker Will and if he wishes to modernise how about economising as well ?
Royal Train – no kidding, that’s a sop.The only people who are going to notice that are the people losing their jobs with it.
I have this image of Willy secretly living in Frogmore Phantom of the Opera-style and being very gross about it. How many homes does he have again? Harry can’t have one safe haven in the UK while Willy acknowledges at least 5 homes. Icky. It is tacky not to be making money on the property, but it demonstrates what a horrid human Charles is to deny his younger son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren a safe home the queen promised them that they paid out of pocket to remodel and were paying market level rent to inhabit. The man is deeply flawed and a jealous, petty mess.
Charles might as well hang a sign outside FC that states: “I’m a dogshit father.”