After stepping down as senior members of the royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved overseas with their one year old son, Archie Harrison. The family of three spent time in Canada before relocating to California, where they became friendly with a number of their A-list neighbours - even enjoying Pilates classes with the one and only Adele.
However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had a few concerns about living in Los Angeles. Meghan reportedly found it difficult to do 'normal things' with Archie, and they had issues with paparazzi allegedly using drones to take pictures of them inside their rented mansion.
The couple recently decided to buy their first property together in Montecito, Santa Barbara which is a much smaller town. HELLO! reports that the property has nine bathrooms, sixteen bedrooms, an outdoor guest house, an office and library, spa, gym, arcade, games room, movie room, outdoor pool and tennis court.
But there is a reason that the couple left LA behind according to a source who spoke to US Weekly.
The publication reports that Harry 'hated' LA and Meghan has always liked Montecito.
The source said: 'Meghan visited Montecito in her teens and fell in love with the picturesque scenery and stunning architecture. Moving there was always an option, but to begin with, she and Harry wanted to give Los Angeles a shot.'
The insider continued: 'Unfortunately, Harry absolutely hated it – the timing was so wrong amid the [coronavirus] pandemic and they lacked privacy.'
Their new home is still close to the City of Angels, so if they should need to travel for work it is just over an hour away.
The source added: 'An added bonus is that Montecito is only just over an hour’s drive from L.A., which is where a majority of their work is based, yet [it's] far enough away to escape the crowds, paparazzi, and tourism in Hollywood.'
Congratulations to the Sussexes on their recent move!
