Meghan Markle, Prince Harry ‘couldn’t afford’ $15million Montecito mansion

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could barely afford to buy the $15million mansion they now own and live in in Montecito, California.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior royals in 2020 and subsequently moved to the US where, for a good part of the COVID pandemic, lived in a Santa Barbara mansion owned by friend Tyler Perry.

However, when it came time to start looking for properties to buy for themselves, Meghan told The Cut last year that they realised they were unemployed and couldn’t afford to buy the places that caught their eye.

Talking about the $14.65million property in Montecito, Meghan said: “We were looking in this area and this house kept popping up online in searches. We didn’t have jobs, so we were just not going to come and see this house.”

“It wasn’t possible. It’s like when I was younger and you’re window shopping—it’s like, I don’t want to go and look at all the things that I can’t afford—that doesn’t feel good,” she added.

However, soon after, Prince Harry and Meghan were able to close a deal on their dream house after signing lucrative deals with Spotify and Netflix, as well as Harry’s book deal with Penguin Random House.

Both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have since released several projects, including Meghan’s Spotify podcast Archetypes, a Netflix doc titled Harry & Meghan, and Harry’s memoir Spare.