Anytime the Duke and Duchess of Sussex travel internationally, palace officials openly throw tantrums and try to make those international travels all about the Windsors and the UK. Remember when Meghan went to the Balenciaga show last year? Palace officials raced to express dismay about Meghan going to Paris, which was practically England, according to them. One former courtier cried: “If they really plan to spend more time here, it changes everything. It puts them back in the frame, and that’s not what anyone expected.” LMAO – Meghan went to Paris once and they were already hyperventilating about how she would inevitably set up shop in London again. Anyway, I keep hearing echoes of those sentiments in the conversations about the Sussexes’ second home in Portugal. The first reports of their Portuguese villa were in 2024, but this month is the first time anyone had photo confirmation of the Sussexes spending any time in Portugal. So… what’s funny is that People Magazine’s sources seem to be slyly confirming that the Sussex family has visited Portugal several times in recent years.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s recent family vacation offered a rare glimpse into one of the most private corners of their lives: Portugal.
While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have long kept their time there largely out of the spotlight — and are thought to maintain a vacation home in the country — a source tells PEOPLE the destination has become a special retreat for the couple and their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.
“They love Portugal because Archie and Lilibet can simply be kids,” the source tells PEOPLE. “It’s always very low-key with beach days, playing and spending time together as a family.”
The glimpse Meghan shared on Instagram on July 23 backed up that picture of life in Portugal. Her “summer holiday” photo carousel captured the family playing on the beach, wandering through colorful markets and local shops, and dining at tucked-away neighborhood eateries.
“That kind of normal family time is really important to Harry and Meghan,” the source continues.
The Sussexes have been linked to Portugal for several years, with reports suggesting they purchased a vacation home near the CostaTerra Golf & Ocean Club on the Alentejo coast. While they have never publicly confirmed those reports, the country has increasingly become associated with the family’s most private getaways.
Harry also has close family ties to Portugal. His cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, split their time between the U.K. and Portugal after Brooksbank accepted a job there in 2022. The couple, who share sons August and Ernest, own a home at the CostaTerra Golf & Ocean Club, a luxury development on Portugal’s Alentejo coast south of Lisbon.
Portugal also offers a practical advantage. Just a roughly 2½- to 3-hour flight from the U.K., it allows the family to be far closer to Harry’s home country than when they’re in California. Sources close to the Duke of Sussex have long said he hopes to spend more time in Britain with family, friends and the charities and organizations he continues to support, though ongoing security concerns have complicated those plans.
See what I mean? This was not their first family trip to Portugal. They absolutely bought a home there a while back and they’ve vacationed there before this month with no leaks. Does this mean that the British tabloids are going to start sending paparazzi to Portugal? Surprisingly, I doubt it. Most people knew/believed that the Sussexes were in Portugal ahead of their UK trip, and none of those media outlets sent any photographers. No freelancers got photos either. Either the Sussexes are good at hiding, or the broke-ass British tabloids can’t afford to send people to stalk the Sussex fam. I mean, the Mail is already spending a fortune sending their reporters to Montecito every other month, so maybe that’s what’s taking up so much of the budget.
Additionally, I don’t think the Portuguese villa is about “staying close to England” or whatever. Sure, it’s nice to have a home base in Europe, but this isn’t about soft-launching a “half-in” return to the UK. It’s more about “Sussex Global” versus the Brexit-stagnated UK. I hope Meghan launches As Ever within the EU.
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram.
Good for them. They work hard for their money and have every right to enjoy it. A lot of Black American women moved to Portugal after that deviant was elected in 2024 and are living as expats. I’m glad to know it is somewhat of a safe haven.
I was just going to comment that a lot of Americans bought second homes or moved to Portugal back when the country offered a golden visa. Madonna, Michael Fassbender, and Alicia Vikander all live in Portugal.
Madonna doesn’t live in Portugal anymore (since 2020). She lived there while her son David Banta was playing football (soccer) there. She sold her place there in 2020 & she’s based in the US & UK now.
Madonna doesn’t live in Portugal anymore (since 2020). She lived there while her son David Banta was playing football (soccer) there. She sold her place there in 2020 & she’s based in the US & UK now.
Oprah-connected designers Jeremiah Brent and Nate Berkus also have an estate there. Brent may have some Portuguese ancestry, I don’t remember.
I hope their private haven in Portugal remains private, I’m actually glad they have a home in Europe not the UK considering everything that happened with the June Invictus Games business trip the leftovers were openly sabotaging.
Two theories as to why the dregs of tabloid journalism — and I use the term loosely — hang out in California and not in Portugal: 1. They can’t speak any language other than English; and, 2. No one in Portugal will talk to them. Because they know how batsh*t loony the tabloids are, and how big a role they played in the Brexit referendum. No love lost. In California, I’m guessing, people feel slightly sorry for them. These people have to be told to tip in American restaurants. Cringe de la cringe.
And … in addition to speaking “English” with an American accent! lol, living in California, those two royal children, besides familiarity with Spanish, will also be picking up Portuguese. Budding polyglots!
Good for them if they have a place in portugal. it makes sense for them to have another home after Frogmore was taken away from them
There were rumours that Harry and Meghan had visited Portugal after the 2023 IG in Dusseldorf and if they are still close with Eugenie and Jack I think it’s logical to believe that they’ve been to Portugal a few times before. I have no doubt the British press has sent people to Portugal but it’s probably hard to find out anything if the place that Harry and Meghan stay at is in a gated community. I’m still not sure that the source that People is talking to is actually connected to Harry and Meghan or just a royal commentator. I don’t think Lili and Archie need to leave Montecito to live normal lives. I side eye that comment.
My bet is they got the villa because of the Golden Visa. Harry being British and Meghan American, it is very easy to enter Europe and stay longer here with the golden visa
That’s how I see it. A backup plan to get them safely out of the US if trump and heritage foundation keep coming for them.
Well, I love this for them. So are they in the same private community as the one Eugenie and Jack are in, the one Jack works for? I wonder if even some of the restaurants and stores are in a privacy zone?
Yes I was thinking the same thing. Harry and Eugenie have always been close and this is a way for Archie and Lili to have relationships with their British cousins. I love the idea of the two families having fun together with no one having any knowledge of it.
Harry is on record — in Spare, IIRC — having observed that Brexit was “b*llsh*t”, so I can see why he might jump at the chance to retain citizenship in a country that is a member state of the EU. And Portugal — unbeknownst to many — is a long-standing British ally. Historic and significant ties, likely to do with its long Atlantic coastline, and colonial empire, and mutually advantageous relationship with the Royal Navy.
Very doubtful that as a British royal who still believes in the monarchy and the British military is going to apply for EU citizenship. He hasn’t even applied for US citizenship and he’s a permanent resident there.
This is @Amy Bee, he doesn’t need US citizenship if he’s got a green card. It’s really a distinction without a difference, except that it would be a huge unwelcome headline here in the UK (HARRY DESERTS US, etc.) and likely have implications for tax liability, but I can’t speak to that. Since members of the BRF and the UK military were all citizens of an EU country within recent memory — until 5.5 years ago, that is, Jan 2021, when the transition period ended — I’m not sure I understand your comment.
What?!! There have been several “faux-royal tours” to Portugal and the RF wasn’t overshadowed? How was this possible?
Shocking, isn’t it?
The press rage on the BRF’s behalf that the Sussexes should disappear from public view, and never speak to anyone.
Then when the Sussexes keep quiet and just go about their lives privately without reference to outsiders, the press crash out anyway.
Access, and control. The two things the press and BRF desperately want, but can NEVER have now, precisely because of what they have done and how they have treated the Sussex family.
Sit in your 💩 filled post-tantrum diapers, you left behind losers. You drove the best of the BRF out of the family and the Firm, and now you’re reaping the whirlwind.
In terms of pure practicality, it makes sense to have a place to stay for a while and recover from the significant jetlag between California and Europe before facing whatever stress awaits them in the UK.
It seems like the framing of this story is that the Sussexes do not need security because they can pop in from Portugal.
Also, Eugenie leaks like a sieve. They really should be cautious around her.
I wonder if any of the Sussexes are learning Portuguese. It would be nice if the kids were bilingual. I know that Meghan knows other languages, not sure which ones.
Spanish and french