It’s Disclosure Week over in the UK, with Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace courtiers sitting down with royal reporters and talking them through the royal finances at the end of the British “tax year.” Just in time for the Windsors’ summer holidays too – they really want to drop these disclosures and walk away for three months. There’s a lot of information to get through, but this one deserves its own stand-alone story. Remember how King Charles evicted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Frogmore Cottage last year? Remember how the eviction came after the Sussexes paid for extensive renovations on the dilapidated shack they were “gifted” by QEII? Remember how they had a valid lease and Charles still evicted them, and then he was fully prepared to give the cottage to Prince Andrew? Yeah, funny story – Frogmore is still sitting empty.
Frogmore Cottage is still lying empty more than a year after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were forced out, as Prince Andrew refuses to move into the residence. Prince Harry was asked to remove his remaining possessions from the property just weeks after he published his explosive memoir Spare last year.
The Sussexes had provoked fury by spending £2.4 million of taxpayers’ money renovating it, but they covered the costs themselves following the outcry.
The Duke of York was offered the option to move into the cottage, instead of residing in the £30 million Royal Lodge while he has no apparent source of income, but he declined. Prince Andrew was forced to step back from royal duties amid the scandal over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The King has long been trying to persuade him to leave his 30-room Windsor mansion in favour of Frogmore Cottage.
But yesterday a Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed that Frogmore is still empty as they detailed the annual Sovereign Grant report, which sets out how the monarchy is funded by taxpayers.
‘I think at this point I wouldn’t speculate on who would be the future occupant of Frogmore Cottage,’ they said.
These people suck so hard. All of them – the focus on Frogmore specifically is all about the Sussexes and the British media’s gloating that the Sussexes were evicted out of spite. But there are so many cottages, mansions, palaces, forts and castles sitting empty on Crown-owned estates or part of private royal real estate holdings. Charles has made this big deal about how much money can be made renting out all of these properties and he still can’t fill Frogmore. It’s wasteful, stupid and extremely petty.
Photos courtesy of Netflix/The Sussexes. Cover courtesy of The Sun.
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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*
Charles is a petty man and can’t perceive that he himself caused the trouble in the first place.
Exactly! Chuckles takes no responsibility for any of the rotten things he does to Harry and he never will but he will complain that he never sees his grandchildren and do his woe is me routines.
This article feels weirdly objective for the DM – admitting that they reimbursed the costs of renovation, and that andrew is refusing to move into it so its just been sitting empty for a year and that there are no plans to move someone else in.
I don’t think the DM meant to do this, but it just emphasizes how petty and short sighted Charles can be.
Nothing objective about it IMO – they made sure to highlight the Sussex “eviction” and to link them and Andrew so that an article about Frogmore Cottage would get outrage clicks. The rest of the DF’s reporting on the Royal finances is woeful at best and designed to be buried within 48 hours max.
Note that there is no strong coverage in the British tabloids on Prince William’s obfuscation on his finances; no reporting on how the costs for appearances by the BF increased even though the number of appearances declined (admittedly not by much, because William and Kate did nothing even before her health issues); Charles blew nearly 150,000 on the two-day trip to France and that doesn’t include security; no articles about the TWO new helicopters ordered; and on and on….
That’s why I said “for the DM” lol – they still mentioned that H&M reimbursed the renovation costs and that Andrew is no longer a working royal but still living in Royal Lodge. That’s more than I had expected upon opening the post.
I didn’t expect articles about the other things you mentioned though – that’s a bridge too far for the DM. They’re just never going to call the royals to task in a meaningful way and it doesn’t seem like any other publication in the UK is going to either.
You are so right. Why is the daily mail talking about the cottage at all, in this context? It’s been sitting empty for a long time; they could have discussed this on other occasions. So every year the cottage sits empty, the story is going to be about the cottage and not about Charles and Williams spending?
I’ve been really curious how the dramatic drop in official business by 2/3 of the “working” family members would impact the amount of the SG. I must not understand how it works because should it be far less this year? Or at least for half the fiscal year?
I agree Proud Mary. Talking about a public ‘outcry’ over the money spent to renovate Frogmore Cottage without mentioning that it was needed in order for the place to be livable and not mentioning that the Sussexes’ had also paid rent on it as well is not objective. I dont see them constantly pointing out how much they taxpapers spent on W&K’s place at KP which they don’t pay rent on or live in anymore.
Same. It does seem objective. 1. Buyers remorse (they want the Sussexes back?). 2. This cottage is not empty but they can’t say who is occupying it? 3. Weird plea to move Paedrew in so WanK can move into RL?
I’d put my money on not empty. Willnot is probably staying there when in Windsor.
I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s objective, if they are not talking about the royal family’s spending, instead. I think it’s a distraction tactic.
@Couch Potato, hard agree. Frogmore Cottage seems to be the most liveable/updated home (and desired due to Meghan’s aesthetics). Someone is there. I don’t think it’s Will.
Any word on whether H&M we’re reimbursed for the money they spent on FC? I hope they fought for it. I’m petty, so I would have ripped everything out that I paid for. All the way down to the studs.
It is possible they did get back the money. But, of course H&M wouldn’t send a press release about that and BRF wouldn’t leak it with their sources because it is good news for H&M. Both H&M have good lawyers in UK, it would surprise me if they left that money.
Predictably it would have been front page news with the sound of fury signifying nothing so, I deduce a guess that no.
The monies are still outstanding…..
I agree .. Charles is a small man after all ~ small hearted and small minded after all.
That Meghan and Harry repaid the money spent on that ugly run down house speaks volumes about their integrity and his lack.
And then there is the vindictive angry lazy
Heir as well with his financial shenanigans …
All in all not a good look for the future of the Windsors.
Charles is such a wicked, wicked man child . I hope hell is extra hot for him when he gets there
Such a dumb move for the Royal Family and stupid for the press to gloat about it. The Royal Family could have still been collecting rent from Harry and Meghan. The press would probably have more stories about Harry and Meghan as they would be in the UK more often if they still had Frogmore.
What’s truly hilarious is they can’t even say they are good for tourism anymore, we’ve all seen the golden carriage traveling through the empty streets lined with barriers for crowds that never showed. The Royal the British taxpayer hasn’t paid for in years is the one doing more for tourism than any of the left overs, Invictus coming to Birmingham is projected to bring in a lot of tourists and money. Brits deserve a refund and Prince Harry and Princess Meghan deserve their £2.4 million returned with interest.
And even the horses are running away from this nonsense! 🐎
The plausible deniability is strong with this one…notice how they framed Andrew’s withdrawal from public duties because of his friendship with Epstein and not bc he is a human trafficker of young women.
I remember after the initial gloating about H&M being evicted & when Charles was looking like the crappy dad he is, Rebecca English claiming Charles took Frogmore back because H&M were hardly staying in the uk & didn’t want it sitting empty. What a liar- a year after the eviction& the property is empty I wonder how long that will be the case seeing as Andrew isn’t going to be forced into it
Will always point out this pointless eviction when the press try to play the poor grandpa card for Charles.
I remember this narrative! Camilla Tominey also repeated it on itv, maybe with Phil and Holly? She said Harry and Meghan couldn’t expect to have a second home just sitting empty most of the year. Which is…bonkers. How many of William and Charles’ homes sit empty throughout the year? So yeah, if that was the reason they gave it turned out to be a complete lie and a farce. English and Tominey should consider themselves no more than sycophantic hagiographers. They are not journalists by any means.
IF it’s still empty – and that’s a big IF – I’m willing to bet that it is because they have been dragging their feet about reimbursing H+M the FULL cost of their investment in the property: not just the £2.4 million which they should never have been harassed about as it was money earmarked for the necessary renovations which had already been in progress, but also the money they spent on “fixtures and fittings”. I’d hazard a guess that they likely owe the Sussexes’ around £5 – 6 million when all is said and done, and until they repay that, they can’t – or daren’t – use the property for fear of being legally stung.
This of course does not mean that they would not move in a mistress or three or craven William under the cover of darkness and then lie to reporters to claim that it remains empty.
This makes William’s homelessness campaign look even emptier than Frogmore.
The royals could earn some public favor by turning a couple of their properties into homes for, say, women and children without shelter. But they would never.
I have an image of Will-not obsessively lurking around Frogmore Cottage like the Phantom of the Opera. Shudder. Admitting that H and M PAID for the renovations out of pocket, the cottage has been empty since H and M left and Andy is no longer a working royal (and why he is no longer a working royal) is weirdly forthcoming for the ROTA. Maybe this is a warning shot that royal abuses of the tax system/sovereign grant/duchy money, Willy/Keen(er)’s utter lack of work ethic and preparation, and whatever is actually going on behind the scenes between Keen and Will-not will be leaked by the rota if they are left to flounder all summer with nothing to report but regurgitated smears on Harry and Meghan? Doubtful, but fingers crossed.
It’s so funny that when Charles was correctly called petty for evicting his son from the home he paid millions to renovate that the cleanup was ‘he wasn’t being cruel they just cant have the house empty even though Harry’s been paying rent’ and now NO ONE is paying rent on it or living there.
If I were Meghan and Harry I would have stripped every bit of renovation I’d done to that place. From the kitchen counter to the refinished wood floor. F*ck that.
So it is okay for them to fake up an “eviction notice” and put the king’s signature on it?
I thought he was trying to evict Prince Andrew from Frogmore now. KC just doesn’t want family around. Are William and Kate next?
Those repairs they paid for were crown responsibility and already earmarked for long deferred maintenance prior to the property being “gifted”.
So is Chuck going to give H&M at least £2M of that £132M to account for the money they spend upgrading Frogmore Cottage ?
Meghan poured her heart into helping rebuild, design and decorate Frogmore as her family’s forever U.K. home. Out of all the cruel things done to hurt her, this most likely hurt most and Charles knew it. Kate and William knew it.