Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have purchased a 14.65 million dollar home in Santa Barbara–which means Malbuites hopeful to add the Sussexes to neighborhood watches and book clubs after seeing them around town will be disappointed.
Rumors that the couple were considering relocating permanently to Malibu revved up after the prince was spotted in late June cycling to Surfrider Beach. Several news outlets also noted that his wife Meghan is from Los Angeles and that her mother Doria Ragland currently lives there; a permanent home in Malibu would allow the couple to be closer to her.
Observer reported on potential homes the pair was rumored to be looking at in Malibu twice: once in February that they had been looking at a Malibu home called Petra Manor, which Kylie Jenner had once rented, and another time in April that they had been looking at Mel Gibson’s former home which is now on the market for $14.5 million dollars.
But the couple have decided on Montecito instead of Malibu. The $14.7 million dollar Mediterranean-style compound they chose is located in an exclusive neighborhood which is already home to celebrities such as Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres. The pair’s struggle against tabloids has been widely publicized, so it’s easy to speculate that the increased privacy and distance from prying paparazzi Montecito provides may have been a deciding factor in their decision to choose it over Malibu.
Before settling in the States, the Sussexes had been spending time in Vancouver, Canada. They moved to the States in mid-March before borders closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The two officially stepped down from their royal roles on March 31 and have been quietly working on their organization Archewell and raising their toddler son.