'Fit for a prince': As Harry and Meghan return to the UK, discover the houses worthy of a royal seal of approval
LBC goes house hunting in one of the UK's most in-demand areas, as the Duke and Duchess touch down in the UK with their two children.
There are still many questions to be answered when it comes to Harry and Meghan’s surprise return to the UK. When will they land? Why are they moving?
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However, one big one remains: where will the Duke and Duchess be moving to?
The couple are rumoured to be returning to the UK later today, travelling with their two children, Archie and Lilibet, from their mansion in Montecito, California.
And it’s thought the family will swap their $14.65 million Tuscan-style paradise in Southern California for the quintessentially British tranquillity of the Cotswolds.
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It’s reported the Duke and Duchess of Sussex previously rented a house in the area on the Great Tew Estate, near the Beckhams’ country home and one of Meghan’s favourite haunts - Soho Farmhouse – where she held her ‘bachelorette party’ in 2018.
Situated not far from the King’s favoured Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire, it could also be the ideal location for a family reconciliation.
So, will they find themselves once again amongst the rolling hills of the Cotswolds? And if so, what kind of properties could they buy?
Emma Brooks, the Managing Director of luxury estate agent Harvey Holland, told LBC the village of Ascott under Wychwood “could suit certain discerning buyers”.
With a 29-acre manor house recently on their books, she describes the lake, situated within the estate, as “absolute perfection”.
The Grade 2 building has 16th and 17th century origins, and we’re told is expected to sell for around £10 million after renovations.
In the same village, Emma Brooks says 'The Grange', which is on the market for £2.65 million, has a “massive Georgian influence which really does appeal to the Americans”.
She told LBC: “Often round here we struggle to sell to some of the Americans because they love the Cotswold aesthetic but they’re not very good with the low ceilings and the beams and the little rooms.
"So, when we get something with a bit more Georgian grandeur, they tend to love it.”
If the couple don’t mind waiting for their house to be built, Harvey Holland has shown LBC designs for a house which will be a stone’s throw from the prestigious RH England Gallery on the Aynho Estate in Banbury.
Emma Brooks says it’s the “Cotswolds meets LA”, with “planning permission for an 8,500 square foot contemporary country house in 3 acres of historic parkland, offering privacy and scale”.
The price of the plot alone is £1.75 million, but once built, the value is £9.5 million.
But Emma Brooks has told LBC: “my instinct is that they might be tempted to move somewhere in the direction of the Tews, between Soho Farmhouse and RH”.
“Lots of people live in the Tews, pretty high-profile people… it’s no secret that the Beckhams have a place near Soho Farmhouse, Ellen [DeGeneres] is rumoured to live nearby, and you’ve got Simon Cowell.”
She says properties in the area are often not listed online and are sold to buyers “discreetly”
LBC was given special access to one of the houses on the market in the area, which we weren’t allowed to photograph. It’s a “Victorian farmhouse on 3 acres of land with a vegetable garden, paddock and stables”, on the market for around £2 million.
Emma Brooks thinks this is the area Harry and Meghan are most likely to settle in, if they choose the Cotswolds as their home.
If this is indeed to be where “reverse Megxit” unfolds, the couple’s children could attend any number of top primary schools.
One option is Windrush Valley School which, at around £12 thousand a year, has been “consistently ranked among the Top 30 Best Private Schools in England”.
The small class sizes, “averaging around 14 pupils” could provide the privacy needed for Archie and Lilibet’s education.
Another option for the seven and five-year-old could be Abingdon Preparatory School, which ranges from around £15 thousand to £23 thousand a year. Recently changes to accept girls as well as boys mean Meghan and Harry could save multiple trips on the school run.
The Cotswolds could also be the ideal location for Meghan, who it’s rumoured is in talks to take on a new TV role in The Gentleman. Previous seasons of the Netflix show were filmed, in part, in the area.
Speaking truthfully, Emma Brooks says she thinks she might have worked out which house Harry and Meghan have bought – if they do indeed move to Great Tew in Oxfordshire. But like a true professional, she’s giving nothing away.