Why Harry and Meghan probably won’t be Ellen DeGeneres’ U.K. neighbors

It makes sense that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are feeling nostalgic after learning this week that Ellen DeGeneres, their neighbor from Montecito, has moved to the United Kingdom due to worries about the upcoming Donald Trump administration.

In addition to losing a friend who has allegedly supported them through a number of life events and scandals, DeGeneres and her spouse, Portia de Rossi, are allegedly starting over in the Cotswolds, a charming, famous area of England where Harry and Meghan previously owned a house.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are unlikely to return to the Cotswolds anytime soon to be DeGeneres and de Rossi’s neighbors again for a number of well-known reasons, most notably their distance from the British royal family.

Even while the Sussexes themselves have good reason to fear a Trump administration, it’s difficult to envision them residing anyplace in England at the moment.

The 47th president, who was just elected, has made it apparent that he dislikes both Harry and Meghan. He has accused them of disrespecting the late Queen Elizabeth II and betraying the royal family.

Prior to his election, Trump also implied that if it came out that King Charles III’s son had omitted information about his history of unlawful drug use from his visa application, he would not block immigration officials from deporting Harry if he were to return to the White House.

“We’ll gladly send them back from America, you can have them back over here, but I’m not sure you guys want them any more than we might not want them anymore,” Trump’s son, Eric Trump, stated in an August interview on a British talk show. But more subsequently, Eric Trump underlined that his father’s troubles as president would be nothing compared to Harry’s immigration status and visa problems.

As a result, Harry and Meghan might not have an urgent need to go back to England, which is probably for the best because doing so would be difficult.

DeGeneres and de Rossi have reportedly already made their home in the Cotswolds, a location of semi-rural rolling hills and charming English villages approximately two hours southwest of London, according to many sources on Wednesday.

The well-known luxury real estate collector and former daytime talk show host was house hunting in England in October when she discovered a home in the Cotswolds that she adored, according to People magazine.

Trump’s triumph over Kamala Harris, however, left her and de Rossi disillusioned with life in America under Trump, according to TMZ, even though they had purchased their UK house before the election on November 5. A source told TMZ that DeGeneres and her actress wife, who both backed Harris, were determined to leave. According to The Wrap, DeGeneres and de Rossi may even have no intention of ever going back to the US.

DeGeneres and de Rossi were drawn to the Cotswolds for reasons other than their natural beauty, which makes sense. It is also well-known for having a large number of famous people who take pleasure in their level of fame and/or fortune. According to reports, the celebrities who own residences there include Stella McCartney, Elizabeth Hurley, Patrick Stewart, Kate Moss, David and Victoria Beckham, and perhaps Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant.

For a short time, Harry and Meghan also resided in the Cotswolds. The US former TV actor and Queen Elizabeth’s grandson agreed to a two-year lease for an 18th-century farmhouse worth approximately $3.1 million before to their May 2018 wedding, according to the UK Standard.

The home on four acres was located in the same luxury housing estate as the Beckhams country home (though Harry and Meghan also have reportedlyhad a falling outwith the soccer star and his pop star/fashion designer wife). During their farmhouse occupancy, Harry and Meghan reportedly entertained other celebrity couples, including Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas and Serena Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian. They even played hosts to George and Amal Clooney, though the Clooneysadmittedthat they didn t know the couple before they were invited to their wedding.

But Harry and Meghan gave up the Cotswolds farmhouse when they shocked the world by leaving royal life in 2020 and relocating to Meghan s home state of California. They eventually bought their $14 million, nine-bedroom mansion in Montecito, near a sprawling estate that DeGeneres purchased in 2019.

Meghan s friendship with DeGeneres predated her marriage to Harry. The two women spoke on DeGeneres s eponymous Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021 about how they first became acquainted at a Los Angeles-area dog rescue shelter where DeGeneres convinced the Suits star to adopt a dog.

Their friendship eventually grew to the point that DeGeneres traveled to the UK in May 2019 and visited Meghan and Harry at their main UK residence, Frogmore Cottage, near Windsor Castle. She saidon her showthat she was one of the first people to meet the couple s son, Archie, after his birth.

That summer, DeGeneres alsotook to Xto blast Meghan s growing number of critics. She said that Meghan and Harry are the most down-to-earth, compassionate people. Imagine being attacked for everything you do, when all you re trying to do is make the world better.

Following Harry and Meghan s dramatic departure from royal life, it s easy to imagine that they were drawn to Montecito because DeGeneres and de Rossi were there. The closeness of the two couples has reportedly persisted, even as the Sussexes and DeGeneres have became embroiled in various individual controversies.

DeGeneres notably stepped away from the spotlight in 2022, ending her Ellen DeGeneres Show after nearly 20 years on the air, saying she had been kicked out of show business. DeGeneres was accused in 2020 of overseeing a toxic workplace at her show and faced allegations that her be kind image was all an act, because she was secretly mean to underlings and to anyone who wasn t a celebrity.

Sources close to DeGeneres told the Daily Mail that her move to England also was prompted by the toxic workplace scandal, because it s left her with a damaged reputation in the United States and few work opportunities. Make no mistake about it. This is Ellen and Portia s retirement, a source said.

Meghan s reputation has similarly taken a hit after she, too,found herself at the center of workplace bullying allegations,both when she was still in England and since she moved to Montecito and tried to launch herself as a media mogul and global influencer.

In early 2023, DeGeneres and de Rossi hosted a vow renewal ceremony at their Montecito home, and Harry and Meghan were among the celebrity guests,Page Six reported.

At that point, Harry had just published his controversial memoir Spare, in which he dished dirt on his royal relatives, including his father, King Charles III, and his brother, Prince William. Harry and Meghan s estrangement from the royal family began with their public criticisms of the monarchy in their 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview and in their 2022 Netflix docu-series.

Because of these criticisms, Harry and Meghan s popularity in the UK plummeted, according to polls. It s also been reported that Spare prompted Charles to evict his son and daughter-in-law from Frogmore Cottage, which is said to have angered Harry.

But in the past year, Harry has been at the center of multiple reports saying he s homesick for his life in England and would like to find a way to return and reconcile with his family.

Again, it s complicated. Harry has been locked in a court battle with the UK government over its decision to deny him and his family automatic taxpayer-funded police security when they visit his home country. Harry and Meghan lost this security when they stepped away from royal duties.

Harry has said he faces security risks as fifth in line to the British throne, and he doesn t feel safe bringing his wife and children to England, But royal observers also speculate that Meghan is reluctant to return because a large segment of the British public doesn t like her anymore.

Royal observers, including editor and royal biographer Tina Brown, have said that Harry would probably be welcomed back by the British public because he s the son of the late beloved Princess Diana, but he d probably have to return without Meghan.

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan may have dashed any hopes that they plan to move back to England, with the news last month that the couple has purchased property in Europe but in Portugal not the U.K.

Areport by Richard Eden, a Daily Mail columnist,suggested that the Portugal purchase was a way for Meghan, especially, to keep a foothold in Europe without actually having to set foot in Britain, where she is becoming increasingly disliked with every bitter utterance she makes against the royal family.

Now that Trump has been elected, Portugal could be the country that Harry and Meghan escape to, if they feel, like Degeneres and de Rossi, that they need to get the hell out of America.