There were absolutely zero arrival photos, but it seems that the Cambridges and Sussexes were out together at the same event on Thursday night. They attended the Royal Foundation Dinner at Victoria House, and by that I believe it was the annual “holiday” dinner/party for the Cambridges and the Sussexes’ royal foundation, their umbrella foundation which supposedly filters money to other charities. Just know that if you’re donating to Will, Kate, Harry and Meghan’s foundation, they’re going to spend thousands of dollars throwing dinners and parties for their staffers. That’s why there weren’t any arrival photos – when they’re using donor money on their own foundation parties, it’s best not to advertise it. Meghan apparently wore a strapless Roland Mouret number in black (you can see it below). Kate wore a sleeveless Preen gown.
We have a very quick post up on last night's Royal Foundation dinner: "Meghan in Roland Mouret for Royal Foundation Dinner: https://t.co/aG74aLCqcs With thanks to @samsfashionfind for the dress ID & @BettyBader1 for the photos tip. pic.twitter.com/vP7Vo2K7rA
— What Meghan Wore (@whatmegwore) November 16, 2018
Meanwhile, there’s some news about the Sussex Habitat in the Daily Mail’s Eden Confidential gossip column. I’ve been wondering about this for some time, and I still don’t know why the Queen hasn’t “given” Harry and Meghan a larger apartment in one of the many palaces in London. Right now, their London home is the small, two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace. Their country home is a rental, and not part of any royal estate. So why hasn’t the Queen given them a property to renovate, so it can be done in time for the birth of the the Royal Polo Baby? Well…
With a baby on the way, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are keen to move up the property ladder from the two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace. Royal insiders had widely expected the Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, 74, and his Danish-born wife, Birgitte, 72, to move out of their lavish 21-room Apartment 1 to make way for Prince Harry and Meghan. But I hear there is a spanner in the works: Birgitte wants to stay put in the apartment, which is right next door to Prince William and Kate’s huge home.
‘Birgitte doesn’t want to leave,’ one of her friends tells me. ‘And why should she? She and her husband are still full-time working members of The Firm and they were given their apartment by Her Majesty.’
A Kensington Palace spokesman insists it’s ‘not true’ that Harry and, in particular, Meghan covet the Gloucesters’ spacious home. Intriguingly, a royal source tells me that Harry and the American former actress may leave the confines of Kensington Palace altogether.
‘Harry and Meghan want to move, and need more space, but they don’t want to live next door to William and Catherine,’ says the source. ‘They will soon have separate offices and separate lives, so it would make sense for them to live further afield. There is no reason why their London home has to be at Kensington Palace. There are plenty of other options, including using their own money to buy their own place.’
‘Catherine and Meghan live very different lives,’ adds the source. ‘And that is likely to become more marked over time.’
Ah, yes, the Gloucesters, known for all of their full-time royal duties and always raising awareness for… things. I honestly couldn’t pick the Gloucesters out of a line-up and I have no idea what they do, but I’ll take them at their word that they work very hard on behalf of the Queen. Here’s something I wonder: Prince Charles basically has control of Clarence House AND St. James’ Palace now, and does he need ALL that space? He uses Clarence House as his home and SJP as his office space. I remember, years and years ago, hearing that Harry used to have a smallish apartment in SJP. I wonder if there’s room to carve out a larger apartment in SJP, that way the Sussexes and the Cambridges won’t be in each other’s hair constantly? And truly, why hasn’t the Queen already figured out where to put the Sussexes?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
Oh dear. Open the flood gates for trolls to start yelling that Duchess of Sussex is causing an estrangement between the two brothers, it’s all her fault, and everything would have been fine if Prince Harry had never married her. I’m already tired of listening to it
Trolls really have nothing to do eh?
The backlash or bad press on Meghan has been a whole new level recently. It like the British press just want to trash her even more than usual. What up with that?
Diversion from Brexit troubles, I’d guess.
Think staff at one of the palaces are behind this. I’m not saying they should be or that Meghan has done anything wrong, but she seems to have gotten on someone’s bad side.
Not saying she deserves it, she probably does not.
But I am not surprised it is happening. I think the palace was careful to keep Kate’s exposure limited in order to avoid creating a new Diana.
Honestly I think they would have preferred to do the same with Meghan, but that’s not how she does things.
Diana was so huge she knocked everything and everyone else of the front pages. The royals and their staff do not want to see another royal spouse with the ability to overshadow them.
Harry is going to side with his wife. He has a lot of public affection. Will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
Oh, jeez. I didn’t realize they’d turned her into Yoko. (Yes, I’m old.)
The only place adult siblings live next door to each other is on goofy sitcoms. The narrative about them having adjoining doors between their apartments was always tabloid nonsense.
Or in India and most of the non western world:-)
Yes, they will be likening her to Yoko Ono next.
Meghan and Harry have moved at such a quick speed that it’s hard to keep up.
Plus there is a story about the tax issue Meghan and Harry may have as well.
A place to live will work it’s way out.
the tax story is not new – it was written back when they were engaged. the DM reprinted it the other day but you can tell it’s old because meghan is referred to continuously as a “fiancée” and harry as her “husband to be.” they couldn’t even pretend it’s not an old story.
What’s the tax issue?
Edit: nevermind. I see stuff down thread.
I hope they don’t move next door to the Cambridges. They aren’t attached at the hip. They can perform their duties and still have their own lives. I suspect they’ll be given something at Windsor Castle or outright purchase the home they live in now in the Cotswolds and keep Nott Cottage until they have multiple children.
I would not want to live next door to my in laws.
The Sussexes definitely need a safe London base, which is large enough for offices and to entertain in. KP makes sense because security is easier to organise and the costs are lower by having a number of royals all kept together.
I do think that there has been a lot of staff gossip going around since Meghan arrived but hopefully it will die down when they get used to her , and the Sussexes and Cambridge’s can work out respective orbits to move in without any rivalry.
Having all of the principal heirs living next door to each other is probably a security risk. It makes sense to put them somewhere else.
Nope, wrong. Kensington Palace is already secure. The road and area surrounding KP is one of the most secure places in London. I think SJP is more likely than H&M moving into Clarence house.
I so agree Mia, I couldn’t imagine living next to my in-laws no matter how well we get along.
I read a story last night about the immense tax situation Meghan will be facing. I think if they’re gifted an apartment, the IRS will tax it. Can you imagine the taxes on an apartment in a palace?
Oh, that would be a complication and one no one else would hav, because Meaghan is American and they tax gifts. I wonder if they maybe won’t be given an official home until her citizenship goes throguh? For tax reasons.
that would be smart
She will probably file as a Married Filing Singly. I’m sure she and Harry were given the advice to not co-mingle finances/accounts etc. so as to accommodate this. If she does this, HIS/RF accounts are not subject to scrutiny by the IRS. HER income (ie: residuals from Suits, etc) is subject to the IRS.
Also, if Charles just pays the Black AmEx bill, she is not being “gifted” the money (ie: deriving income). She never *sees* the bill, it’s as if Charles is doing the shopping.
Could be why HM isn’t gifting a house to them; it could be gotten around if it’s only gifted to Harry, and then she pays him a “nominal rent”, so as not to derive benefit from the property. Could be she’s doing that now, with NotCot, so the actual cost of the property isn’t taken into account for HER taxes.
Full Disclosure: Not a tax atty, but have one in the family 😊
The tabloids are trying to make the tax situation look bigger than what it is. Both Harry and Meghan have lawyers who I am sure explained everything to them before they got married. Too many people are trying to paint Harry and Meghan’s relationship as if they just randomly got married one day without any knowledge or understanding of law and protocol.
The royals have had their things hidden behind trusts for centuries so there is no way the IRS can get at things linked to them. At most Meghan’s royalities from Suits would be exposed to income tax. Nothing else. There’s no way the BRF lawyers didn’t protect their assets prior to this marriage happening.
The IRS is interesting. There are things that a tax attorney can do to limit exposure.
The IRS will be given access to information Meghan is required to provide. But the IRS does not publish tax returns without consent.
So she may have to give them more information than the royal family would like, but that information is private. Think Trump and his tax returns. Nobody has seen them.
The only situation that would cause information to be public, is if she were to not file or pay her taxes. Liens are public.
She will likely file separately from Harry and pay a higher rate than a joint return.
Some of what she receives allowances for is public duties on behalf of another countries government.
She is not just married to a Brit, she is part of a family representing a foreign head of state (The queen).
Would imagine the tax issue will involve the state department as this is a diplomatic issue as well.
Her citizenship despite what people say will be just like a normal person she has to keep her visa for a year apply for ILR then citizenship. I read that ages ago she will have to go through the same process no exception especially now with all the immigration Brexit now. So she won’t have it for 4 years. This wasn’t the Daily Fail either I think it was when she went to get a visa in Chicago some home office person. The child will be dual if they choose.
One of the newspapers had some lovely pictures of Kate’s red dress. Throwing a Christmas party for their staff is not excessive.
If I were the Gloucesters, i’m not sure I’d want to be kicked out of my home either. Wasn’t their originally rumours of Kate and Will taking that space before they ended up renovating a different apartment? Feels like they’ve maybe duck their heels in despite changing family dynamics, perceptions of what the royal family looos like.
The red dress IS lovely. She has it in black as well but the one time we’ve seen her wear it she didn’t style it well and so I prefer the red.
And yeah I don’t think a holiday party is excessive. That seems pretty normal, right?
The Royal Foundation gave $5.5 million in grants in 2017, 53% of total income. No idea what the law are in the UK, but it would have been legal to give just a fraction of that in the US.
Read up on Susan B Komen Foundation and Red Cross etc, and see how much money the Executives get paid, and how get little gets funnel to the actual cause.
The Together cookbook’s profits also go towards their Foundation and not to the Actual cause itself, to the North Kensington Grenfell community.. which is why I donated directly instead of buying the cookbook because you don’t know for sure where the funds are going.
Yeah, this is why I won’t donate to charities like the United Way. That’s not to say they don’t do good work – they do, and they know which smaller charities in town need assistance and they provide it. But at the end of the day they skim off the top for their own staff and fundraising efforts, much like the Royal Foundation. It’s better to research yourself and give directly to those organizations rather than going through a “middle man” (if you can/have time).
K, where are your sources for that?
Space at KP was always going to run out and Harry’s cottage never was going to be big enough for a family (considering that he’s a senior RF member he should get something bigger). I would not be surprised if they ended up living at Clarence House (when they are in London) and/or Frogmore on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Either that or the Cambridges kick Ma Mid out (who rumour has it lives with them at KP with her own ‘granny’ rooms) and give up some of the rooms they have!
You want the Sussexes and their baby to move into Carole’s granny suite?
St James Palace is also a good idea. Security is already set up in central London.
Didn’t Beatrice and Eugenie share a 4 bed apartment in St James Palace? Could that not be an option now Eugenie has moved to Kensington?
Is there a reason they couldn’t move into Clarence house? I know Charles still lives there, but I wonder if the thinking is after Charles moves to BP as king, Harry and Meghan can move into Clarence House (or Will and Kate will, and Harry and Meghan will take over their apartment in KP?)
That is my thinking too. Clarence House is lovely, l would like to see H & M there. William will stay at KP until he is King. But rumour has it that Charles doesn’t like Buckingham Palace and will continue to live at Clarence House after he is crowned.
I keep reading comments about the irrelevancy of Harry and Meghan, yet the media seems absolutely obsessed with their every move. I’ve seen more articles and conspiracy theories written about Meghan than any other royal family member this year. The Daily Mail has a full on campaign against Meghan that’s a little scary and a lot ridiculous.
True.
The duke and duchess of Gloucester are in their 70s and do more work than the young ones. Why should they have to give up thei home they’ve lived in years for anyone?
I think the Sussex will end up like the wessexes and yorks and have a small apartment in London but a big house in the country.
The Gloucesters work quietly but they do work hard. And still work despite being in their 70s. You are absolutely right. Why should they move? Why can’t Princess Michael and her husband move out of their KP apt? They are further down the line than the Gloucesters.
I agree that the Gloucesters shouldn’t have to move but was the reason they were expected to move not that the Gloucesters have a country house that they could live in? Prince and Princess Michael sold their country house so their apartment is their only residence now?
I realize I’m American but I don’t understand stories about the BRF and real estate issues. Aren’t there endless properties available, ones that are already in the family or that they can simply purchase? Pick a city one, pick a country one, get them renovated or whatever, good to go.
I don’t understand it either. In my imagination at least they (the royal fam) own millions of acres and dozens of palaces, plus isn’t Harry a multimillionaire in his own right who could just buy or build a fabulous brand new home on a chichi neighborhood of London? No need to boot an elderly cousin out of their lifelong apartment.
Actually @Chaine, Harry’s personal disposable income is said to be just the interest he gets from the 10 million Diana left him and i read somewhere that it’s about 400k a year- which is not too shabby but nowhere close to near the sum needed for buying a house for “Prince Harry”. This is an issue that spares and their kids have had to deal with, such as Andrew, Beatrice, Eugenie–they have all the access and lifestyle but very little money to live like royals OUTSIDE the palace. Hence, the need to be in Charles’, Her Majesty’s and later, William’s good graces as they will control the purse strings of Lancaster and Cornwall.
“who could just buy or build a fabulous brand new home on a chichi neighborhood of London?”
Security would be a nightmare, because Harry isn’t a regular wealthy person buying a London home in the likes of Chelsea, Kensington, Holland Park etc. Taxpayers pay for security, so it’s better for Senior Royals to stay in places like Clarence House or St James Palace.
I think security issues figure into that. It would be much more difficult and expensive to protect Harry, Meghan, and their future children if they were housed in a chichi neighborhood amongst non-royals,
Interesting, i didn’t know he is just living off interest income. His housing “crisis” makes more sense then. Security, though, IMO most security is just an illusion–after all, haven’t there been intruders at the palaces that even came into the Queen’s own bedroom while she was sleeping?
Taxpayers pay millions a year (for each Royal 24/7) for their security, it certainly isn’t an illusion for us Lol. If he did move into a wealthy area, there would be problems, especially for the public living in the same vicinity.
The Gloucesters are actually hard working. They’re in their 70s and this has been their home for such a long time. He’s 1st cousin to the Queen. The Duke does about as many events as Camilla aka more than Will/Harry.
The gossip that they need to vacate their home because they’re older and not a senior is a terrible optic. And yes older is the right word, as all the gossip is how their older and have no kids so they must give up their home.
Yes they are and have supported TQ for many years by doing events on her behalf. Also they have 3 adult children.
I meant to write something about no young kids… yes, grown adults not any little kids. Thank you 🙂
Kaiser – As an American its ok that you have not heard of Gloucesters but we in UK know them and they tend to work far more than the younger royals and have done so consistently.At their old age why should they have to move when the Queen has so man properties to choose from and bestow upon the only royal couple that US media has heard of 🙂
The Gloucesters are very hard-working and do far more engagements than the “Fab Four”. I’m sure there are plenty of other royal properties that Harry and Meghan could use.
But even in the U.K. we never get to hear or see the work they do. It was actually Princess Michael of Kent who first said that the Gloucesters apartment was far too big for their needs. The Kent’s pay rent for their apartment, not sure about the Gloucesters.
I’m sure the Gloucesters loved Princess Michael saying this and starting all the speculation.
I’ve always thought it was so lovely and generous of Princess Michael to offer someone else’s home. (Yes I’m being sarcastic)
I think the Gloucesters have their rent covered because they are full time working royals. Prince/Princess Michael of Kent aren’t? So she was probably pissed off 😉
Agreed about the Gloucesters having a fair amount of recognition in the UK. The list of their engagements on the BRF website went on for about 11 pages so they clearly earn their keep.
Who needs 21 freaking rooms? Harry and Meg get 10 of the rooms, the Gloucesters get 11. There, I figured it out. Youre welcome.
Much too practical for the BRF!
Also, 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom in a central London location are fine for new parents with one baby! But of course, they are Royals, so not so regular despite them telling everyone they want to be regular people lool.
Rooms for offices, Rooms for domestic staff, Rooms for entertaining, Rooms for private use. Ten will not be enough for the Sussexes once they have more kids.
don’t forget rooms for clothes! Where do the royal ladies keep all their gowns, hats and such?
Quite true harla!…I often wish I could look at how they store all their clothes away. They would need a few rooms for that alone. Also the men have all their uniforms, boots and sports wear.
But I thought it was stated as fact many times (on here anyway) that the Gloucester’s were willing to move out years ago for William and Kate?. Good thing William and Kate got a move on and moved in to Apartment 1A instead otherwise they (and their 3 children, pet dog and pet hamster) would still be waiting for the Gloucester’s to make up their damn minds 7.5 years later!. Or perhaps this story just debunks another malicious William and Kate rumour?. Seems like its a day for doing so.
I think the Cambridges occupy Princess Margaret’s former apt. I thought the Gloucesters had offered to move too, and maybe something happened in the meantime. Maybe they were offered Nott. Cottage, which is pretty small by comparison. They have three grown children and six grandchildren. Princess Michael should be the one offering to move.
Yes, Apartment 1A used to belong to Princess Margaret.
To see Princess Micheal booted from her home for Meghan would be poetic justice.
Where did Prince Andrew live when he was raising a family? Harry is like Andrew, right? Did Andrew kick old people out of their home for his lodgings? Vacating for the future king of England is not the same as moving out for his little brother.
Andrew & Fergie were in a house near Windsor Castle. After the Queen Mum died, that house was sold and they moved into what had been her home in Windsor Great Park.
All of Charles’s siblings have apartments in London – either in Buckingham Palace or St James’s. With the renovations at Buckingham Palace, the question is where do they go for the next few years. They all do at least some work on behalf of TQ and want/need a London base. For security reasons, the obvious choices are Buck House, Kensington Palace & St James Palace.
Yeah the Queen gave Andy and Fergie an estate in Berkshire called Sunninghill Park. Apparently that was a big boondoggle. Good Tom Sykes article about it. https://www.thedailybeast.com/prince-andrews-houseand-old-royal-lifelies-in-ruins
I’ve been on this site for years and there was little if any serious discussion about W and K kicking out the Gloucesters from their apartment. Instead there were comments about the charity they actually did kick out of apt 1A because they were going to work full time years ago before the part time chopper job derailed that and they remained part time and hidden away at Amner. Nice try though.
@Nic919
I’ve been a lurker on this site for years so I know many discussions on this subject have gone like this..How dare William and Kate kick out a charity and renovate Apartment 1A at a huge cost when the Gloucesters are willing to give up their apartment and move somewhere smaller!. Nice try trying to twist the narrative though!
It seems like the Gloucesters never wanted to move out of their apartment for William/Kate or Harry/Meghan and it was just a rumour started by Princess Michael. So people have been blaming William and Kate for not taking up this option for years now even though this option was probably never on the table to begin with!
Agree, Nic919. I remember the conversations about the apartment renovations were focused on the displaced charity. The Gloucesters were rarely mentioned except for the state of their personal finances and how much they were (or were not) paying for rent.
I have two theories, one is that the Sussexes are trying to avoid an act in haste, repent at leisure situation. Since Meghan has not spent a lot of time in the London/the UK they may need time to figure out what location and floor plan work best for them since they will likely be permanently assigned that home.
Also the Sussexes are renting a larger property in the Cotswolds, so it could be that Baby Sussex and his/her nanny will based in the Cotswolds and not London, so having more room for Baby Sussex is not a reason to accelerate the house selection.
My second theory is that as far as QEII is concerned, giving Harry Nott Cott all she needs to do for her non-heir apparent grandson and his family and it is Charles’ responsibility to acquire a substantial home for the Sussexes. If this is the case, then my guess is that Nott Cott will remain the Sussexes London base, which would be consistent with the Queen’s non-heir children having a modest home in London and larger homes in the country.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I I seem to remember reading an article (around the time of their wedding, I think) about how the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were willing to move out so Harry and Meghan could move in after they got married.
So, they changed their minds or what?
The press could have made it up or (and I hope this isn’t the case), the story was floated in the press to pressure the Gloucesters into moving out.
I’m sorry I think it’s beyond rude they won’t move out (if true as the renovations were just complete)…Harry is the Prince of England ffs and they are 2 older people with grown children- downsize already!! Let him raise his children next to his brother.
The Duke of Gloucester is also a Prince by the way. And both of them have worked for the Queen since his brother, Prince William of Gloucester was killed in a plane crash in 1972. His own father Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was incapacitated by strokes by that time. I know someone who met the Duchess of Gloucester (she is Danish by birth). He said she was lovely and gracious.
The renovations were part of maintenance renovations being done all over KP. The press jumped on the fact that they were fixing it up and made assumptions. Princess Michael is the one who started the rumors about the Gloucester giving up their apartment. I have no idea why she felt compelled to offer up their home for them.
Oh you’re older…move out of your house. What a rude attitude.
Very rude! I agree.
I could definitely see them moving to St James Palace or, eventually, into Clarence House. It also wouldn’t surprise me if they spend most of their time at their country home, though.
I have a feeling H &M don’t spend a lot of time in London, nor do they wish to. The Cotswold home sounds ideal with lots of privacy.
Didn’t the Queen give them a property on the Windsor estate when they got married? It’s called Adelaide Cottage.
My personal opinion is that they want (the palace) want to keep them all in one place to know what they are doing. A little spying and reporting back to the palace or press. I did read that the Suxxeses want to raise their children in the countryside. They want to live outside of the city.
They all have a London base and a country place. The issue right now is where their London base is going to be – thats if they move out of Nottingham Cottage.