Prince Harry and Meghan Markle thread

[Vlad]

I kindly request that all members participating in the MM and Harry thread dial back the vile rhetoric.

I am not opposed to discussing public personas on TPF, including the constant torrent of news surrounding the couple from this thread. But I find it troubling when their looks are being nitpicked apart to a degree that is just not appropriate.

This thread has drawn criticism over the years, and I discussed it at great length with Megs and the mods. I am not looking to close it down, but the vitriol needs to be dialed back.

My personal feelings about hate threads aside, this ultra-negative vibe is something better suited for other forums, Reddit, or elsewhere. I am holding our community to higher standards.

Thanks for reading.

 

[gracekelly]

That photo on Twitter of "ivy taking over the exterior" doesn't even look like the same house. The colors are different, the shapes of the windows are different, and was it iSource News that someone mentioned just yesterday as being a Snarkle misinformation site?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle thread

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Master Thread A friendly reminder to stick to Harry and Meghan, a little off-topic is natural, but not for pages. Let's stick to the topic, please. No politics, discussion about members, etc. :tender:

forum.purseblog.com

Compare it to Trulia's photos with what looks like a very California-esque pale peach-colored exterior and with the tops of the windows slightly rounded, Cali-style (note the similar-shaped windows and doorways on the "Netflix house" down the page a bit that the series actually used for filming):

Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s $15m California mansion | loveproperty.com

Since stepping back from official duties and making America their home, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle live in a beautiful mansion in Montecito, Santa Barbara. Click or scroll on and let's explore the amazing home where they are raising Lilibet and Archie...

www.loveproperty.com

I think Oprah just wants them GONE. Bad enough that she's badly misjudged the characters of attention-sluts like G1ul1an1 and "Doctors" Phil and Oz, but now she's taking heat for enabling the Snarkles to con the public too. And their presence may even have affected property values.

She did make money off of them and may think there is still more to be made.

 

[hillsidegirl]

Adding up the mortgage, cited above, and the $12k/mo tax bill, a few posts back, basically the house is a monthly drain of about $100k/mo or $1.2M/yr not including maintenance, repairs, security, utilities

If they pay no income tax (??? ) then they need an income of $1.2 M just for the house , or $2.4M if they are in 50 percent tax bracket ( arbitrary guess that made the math easy in my head)

That is a serious burn rate

The Sun actually printed a breakdown of the estimated annual carrying costs of their home (and lifestyle too, to some degree. It I’d be willing to bet they have a lot more hired help than what is listed). Regardless, it’s pretty pricey.

Vanity Fair had reported that H&M took out a $9.5 million mortgage when they bought the home (Harry funded the roughly $5 million down payment with money from Diana). Most of the estimates below seem pretty reasonable, except I can 100% guarantee the electric bill for an 18,000+ sq ft house in CA would be way higher than £23,400 for the year. And the water bill would be many many multiples of the estimated £12,600. Water and electric rates in CA are through the roof - £23,400 is a more suitable estimate for a 2500 sq ft house And the water bill for a property with so many gardens would be several thousand dollars every month. £12,600 would cover a 3 months of water, at best.

 

[csshopper]

Yes, H&M’s house had several major price reductions before they bought it. It was a VERY stale listing. No one wanted it.

This site, from the time of the initial listing, has a number of photos (I’m actually surprised this wasn’t scrubbed from the internet after the H&M deal, but it’s still alive, for now anyway).

The Chateau of Riven Rock, Montecito On Sale for $49,5 Million | eXtravaganzi

www.extravaganzi.com

“What Meghan Wants, Meghan Gets” he proclaimed!

When she crossed the threshold and said “Oh, H, I want my very own Princess Room!” the deal was sealed.

No one else wanted the fugly mess, so they bought it for her to rule. Not sure about the “happily ever after.”

 

[Hyacinth]

The Sun actually printed a breakdown of the estimated annual carrying costs of their home (and lifestyle too, to some degree. It I’d be willing to bet they have a lot more hired help than what is listed). Regardless, it’s pretty pricey.

Vanity Fair had reported that H&M took out a $9.5 million mortgage when they bought the home (Harry funded the roughly $5 million down payment with money from Diana). Most of the estimates below seem pretty reasonable, except I can 100% guarantee the electric bill for an 18,000+ sq ft house in CA would be way higher than £23,400 for the year. And the water bill would be many many multiples of the estimated £12,600. Water and electric rates in CA are through the roof - £23,400 is a more suitable estimate for a 2500 sq ft house And the water bill for a property with so many gardens would be several thousand dollars every month. £12,600 would cover a 3 months of water, at best.

View attachment 5728251

And don't forget the Dog Minder.

 

[hillsidegirl]

“What Meghan Wants, Meghan Gets” he proclaimed!

When she crossed the threshold and said “Oh, H, I want my very own Princess Room!” the deal was sealed.

No one else wanted the fugly mess, so they bought it for her to rule. Not sure about the “happily ever after.”

View attachment 5728252

The house had a stripper pole too.

The prior owner, a highly controversial Russian oligarch known as Scarface (Sergey Grishin) was almost as classy as H&M. Obviously.

 

[lanasyogamama]

Gee I wonder why. What a white elephant. Tacky and ostentatious, not surprising it was the mansion of MM's dreams.

Maybe when she was young she always dreamed of going to the Cheesecake Factory and never could afford it, so now she gets to live in one!!!

 

[lanasyogamama]

Also, with all their complaints about how awful Frogmore is, why did they buy it?

 

[purseinsanity]

Also, with all their complaints about how awful Frogmore is, why did they buy it?

They didn't. I believe it was leased to them and they made all kinds of renovations, which I still doubt they actually paid for!

 

[csshopper]

The Sun actually printed a breakdown of the estimated annual carrying costs of their home (and lifestyle too, to some degree. It I’d be willing to bet they have a lot more hired help than what is listed). Regardless, it’s pretty pricey.

Vanity Fair had reported that H&M took out a $9.5 million mortgage when they bought the home (Harry funded the roughly $5 million down payment with money from Diana). Most of the estimates below seem pretty reasonable, except I can 100% guarantee the electric bill for an 18,000+ sq ft house in CA would be way higher than £23,400 for the year. And the water bill would be many many multiples of the estimated £12,600. Water and electric rates in CA are through the roof - £23,400 is a more suitable estimate for a 2500 sq ft house And the water bill for a property with so many gardens would be several thousand dollars every month. £12,600 would cover a 3 months of water, at best.

View attachment 5728251

One potentially huge expense I do not see listed is Homeowners Insurance. It’s not optional, although homeowners do have some flexibility in choosing the deductible level for example.

There are many factors that enter into the calculation of costs, but certain basics are square footage of the residences, additional buildings, liability for the swimming pool, tennis courts (if a guest is injured while using them) etc. Additionally Montecito is a fire risk area as well as flooding so those factors are a really significant and costly part of the premium. In some areas of California insurers are cancelling existing policies and people are struggling to find coverage. Mortgagers require insurance to carry the loan, so it is a real bind to scramble to find insurance if the existing coverage was cancelled.

 

[charlottawill]

One potentially huge expense I do not see listed is Homeowners Insurance. It’s not optional, although homeowners do have some flexibility in choosing the deductible level for example.

There are many factors that enter into the calculation of costs, but certain basics are square footage of the residences, additional buildings, liability for the swimming pool, tennis courts (if a guest is injured while using them) etc. Additionally Montecito is a fire risk area as well as flooding so those factors are a really significant and costly part of the premium. In some areas of California insurers are cancelling existing policies and people are struggling to find coverage. Mortgagers require insurance to carry the loan, so it is a real bind to scramble to find insurance if the existing coverage was cancelled.

Don't forget earthquakes:

Santa Barbara County has a high natural disaster risk score of 65%. Over the past 20 years, 37 disasters have been declared by the county, most of which related to Fire incidents. 60% of Santa Barbara County has a moderate or higher wildfire hazard potential, while its 67% average earthquake risk score is high.

 

[Toby93]

Tacky, tacky, tacky

 

[CarryOn2020]

Tacky, tacky, tacky

Of course, it is O’s support that pushed this brand. Surprised they are still in business based on the China/genocide connection.

Meghan Markle‘s money is behind a trendy instant coffee brand that she touts for its ethically sourced ingredients, but the company has previously received tens of thousands of pounds of oat-milk powder from a business in a Chinese state accused of genocide, a new report claims.
Article from 2021:

Meghan Markle’s ‘wellness’ coffee tied to Chinese state accused of genocide

Clevr Blends’ oat milk supplier — Xinjiang Haiyan International Trade — is located within four miles of suspected detention centers, including an alleged re-education site

pagesix.com

 

[Chanbal]

The Sun actually printed a breakdown of the estimated annual carrying costs of their home (and lifestyle too, to some degree. It I’d be willing to bet they have a lot more hired help than what is listed). Regardless, it’s pretty pricey.

Vanity Fair had reported that H&M took out a $9.5 million mortgage when they bought the home (Harry funded the roughly $5 million down payment with money from Diana). Most of the estimates below seem pretty reasonable, except I can 100% guarantee the electric bill for an 18,000+ sq ft house in CA would be way higher than £23,400 for the year. And the water bill would be many many multiples of the estimated £12,600. Water and electric rates in CA are through the roof - £23,400 is a more suitable estimate for a 2500 sq ft house And the water bill for a property with so many gardens would be several thousand dollars every month. £12,600 would cover a 3 months of water, at best.

View attachment 5728251

I think the house expenses must be astronomical, but they don't have all these people working for them. Two full time gardeners? I would be surprised if they pay a gardener more than 2 days a week. Butler, chef, lady's maid and 4 housekeepers? The crew is what we see in TW's photo-ops and a couple of housekeepers who act also as nannies and cooks imo. The Sun is likely having fun at the Harkles' expense by reminding them of what they could have had if they had stayed in the UK.

 

[tiktok]

Santa Barbara County has a high natural disaster risk score of 65%. Over the past 20 years, 37 disasters have been declared by the county, most of which related to Fire incidents. 60% of Santa Barbara County has a moderate or higher wildfire hazard potential, while its 67% average earthquake risk score is high.

Actually, earthquake insurance isn't that common in CA - it's usually prohibitively expensive and doesn't cover much when you read the small print.
This house is literally a gut renovation - looks dated and ugly.

 

[bag-mania]

How did he manage to mooch off of her? He really does know how to sniff out a freebee. At least it answers the question about how he felt so free to invade her fridge.

I have no idea. Do famous people just spontaneously open their homes and invite other famous people to stay with them? Harry made it out like Courtney was away from home when he first got there and it doesn’t sound like they knew each other well, if at all. Who does that?

Courteney Cox reacts to Prince Harry doing mushrooms at her home

In his memoir, “Spare,” Harry wrote about tripping on magic mushrooms that he found in the “Friends” star’s refrigerator during a party at her house.

pagesix.com