Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have repaid £2.4 million for Frogmore Cottage renovations

After announcing that they were stepping down as senior members of the royal family earlier this year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved overseas - first settling in Canada before relocating to California just before the coronavirus lockdown.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex rented a home in Los Angeles before buying a property together in the quieter Santa Barbara area.

However, when they revealed they would be splitting their time between the UK and North America back in January, they also decided to keep their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has stopped them from returning to the UK, insiders have claimed that the couple will be back when possible.

When they made their decision to become financially independent from the royal family, Harry and Meghan faced criticism for previously using the Sovereign Grant to fund renovations of their Berkshire home and announced that they would be repaying the £2.4 million in full.

A spokesperson for the Sussexes said: 'A contribution has been made to the Sovereign Grant by The Duke of Sussex. This contribution, as originally offered by Prince Harry, has fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage, a property of Her Majesty The Queen.'

A source told Vanity Fair that they are 'very relieved and very pleased' to have repaid the money, adding: 'This has been a pro-active step and something they wanted to do from the outset. There was no requirement [from the Queen] for them to pay the money back but it was important to them that they did, and after the Netflix deal they were in a position to do so.

'I think this is quite a significant moment for them. They’re now in their forever home, it’s the start of their new life and they’re very much looking forward to everything that’s about to come.'