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Despite moving back to the UK for 'an extended period of time', Harry and Meghan are choosing to keep their Montecito mansion
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could face a monstrous bill from their California property, reports have suggested.
The couple is said to be house-hunting in the Cotswolds – to the tune of £8million – after Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, were enrolled into a British school in the region.
However, it could be their Montecito mansion that causes them a financial headache.
The Sussexes purchased the 7.38-acre estate, located east of Santa Barbara, in June 2020, just six months after they sensationally quit official royal duties.
Harry and Meghan's company, Rockbridge LLC, bought the nine-bedroom property for $14.65million, The Times reports, before taking a $9.52million loan from City National Bank, with an adjustable-rate mortgage at 2.49 per cent.
At such a rate, on a 30-year term, the couple would be subject to a whopping monthly mortgage repayment of $37,566 – or $450,792 a year.
The New York Post also reported that Harry and Meghan paid a property tax bill of $149,668 last year, meaning their tax and mortgage bill could total $600,460 annually.
If the couple has intentions to stay semi-permanently, the costs may not prove to be a problem. A source had previously said: "It could be six months, it could be a year."
However, reports in the Daily Mail last night suggested their stay could far extend that.
"The way he sees it is that he will be here for the next 12 to 15 years, minimum," a source said of Harry - which could make the financial strain of the California home more troubling.
Of course, with Meghan reportedly leaving her chickens behind - though their dogs Mia and Pula have made the journey across the Atlantic - there will inevitably be staff and other costs.
And further, the couple own a property in Portugal, believed to have been bought for £6.3million three years ago.
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The family are understood to have spent much of their summer there.
Thankfully, the couple are expected to continue making use of their Montecito mansion. The family may spend Christmas on the other side of the Atlantic, and could make use of school holidays to travel back to California.
Additionally, while Harry is seemingly moving as a full-time dad – something he joked about on his podcast appearance with Joe Marler last month – Meghan is anticipated to take on a more "international role".
The duchess is expected to "come and go" from California, where she has her As Ever brand, and the couple's Archewell Productions offices are.
Harry was part of a group ordered to pay an initial £9.5million in legal costs to Associated Newspapers Limited after he was on the wrong end of a landmark High Court privacy case last month.
The payment, which will be shared by Harry, Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley and four others, must be paid by August 28 – just two days after the prince returned to the UK.
The group, which also includes David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Sadie Frost and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, brought claims against the Daily Mail's publisher alleging unlawful information-gathering – accusations ANL strenuously denied throughout proceedings.
