There goes the neighborhood! That’s according to residents in the Cotswolds and surrounding areas who are sounding off about living near Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and issuing the same complaints some of the couple’s Montecito neighbors did.
The duke and duchess moved back to the U.K. in late August and settled at an estate in the Cotswolds, but not everyone is welcoming them to the neighborhood.
Some residents in the town of Burford, nicknamed the “gateway” to the Cotswolds and just a few miles from a pub Meghan was recently spotted at having lunch with Ellen DeGeneres, told Express that the prince and his wife should have “stayed in America” and “kept their mouths shut.”
One woman named Elaine Hunt said, “I don’t really care about them. I think Harry was nasty to his dad. He shouldn’t have exposed everything he did in his book and the interviews.” Her husband, Terry, agreed, saying, “They’ve come back trying to build bridges — well, maybe they’ll be able to do that, but it hasn’t gone well so far.”
Another resident, Keith Matthews, opined, “I don’t think they should get their security back, not after all this drama. They should have stayed in America.”
A Cotswolds local who only gave her first name, Elizabeth, shared her feelings, “Just dishing all the dirt on their family. I think it’s really unnecessary. It has all seemed very chaotic since they’ve been back — changing the children’s school after just a few days. It doesn’t seem like they’ve thought it through. And Harry should be supporting his brother, which he is patently not doing.”
Charlotte Watts added: “There are so many celebrities living around here. People who actually do things and are more well-known than Meghan and Harry. But they keep a low profile and don’t draw attention to themselves. It seems like Meghan and Harry create their own story. The classier thing would be to keep their mouths shut.”
Some of those comments and complaints are reminiscent of what Meghan and Harry’s Montecito neighbors said when they lived there, including Barry Maher’s remarks, who described the pair as nothing more than a “traveling soap opera.” And in a February 2025 cover story, Vanity Fair spoke with dozens of people living nearby who insisted that the Sussexes weren’t good for their neighborhood, referring to them as “local villains.”
The reason for the label was because they felt the two directly contributed to the “increase in housing prices, out-of-towners coming in driving too fast, and taking up all the street parking.” Moreover, several locals were upset with all the attention on their town, saying that they “can’t just walk into Lucky’s for dinner anymore.”
And many were happy to see them go, including an employee at the Montecito Country Mart where Meghan visited on several occasions.
She told The Sun, “I’m glad they’re leaving. Good riddance. Meghan spoke about my favorite beach, Butterfly Beach, in her show and ruined it. She said she has drunk champagne there with friends, but that had to be a lie. It is not legal to drink on the beach here. And after that it just became too crowded. I just can’t go there anymore. There’s never anywhere to park.
“That’s the effect they had here in town. They’re the only celebrities here who go around with bodyguards. Other A-listers just as famous and likely richer than them walk around casually like any normal person.”
