Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave LA and move to Santa Barbara
- Duke and Duchess of Sussex ‘stepped back’ from royal duties earlier this year to lead more independent, private life based mainly in North America
- Couple moved into new family home in July, about 160km northwest of previous residence
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have purchased and moved into a new family home in Santa Barbara, an affluent seaside city outside Los Angeles, according to US media reports.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex - who quit frontline British royal duties this year - were previously living in Meghan’s hometown Los Angeles, where they became quickly embroiled in a legal battle with paparazzi over photos taken of their son Archie.
The pair “moved into their family home in July of this year” and have “settled into the quiet privacy of their community,” a spokesperson said in a statement, without confirming the new location.
They “hope that this will be respected for their neighbours, as well as for them as a family,” the spokesperson added.
According to People and Page Six, their new house is in Santa Barbara, a wealthy community about 160km up the coast from Los Angeles which is also home to Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.
“This is where they want to bring Archie up, where they hope he can have as normal a life as possible,” an anonymous source told Page Six.