Sounds like one neighbor might be very happy to hear Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be leaving Montecito…
The Duke of Sussex is used to putting other people on blast now that he’s a published author — but now he’s getting a taste of his own medicine. One of his angry neighbors has just called him out for allegedly being incredibly rude after moving to the Santa Barbara town back in 2020.
As we all know, the Sussexes were fleeing England at the time amid intense media scrutiny. They eventually opened up and claimed mental health issues and alleged racism from the royal family led them to make the major move, leaving behind their roles as senior working royals. While they were seeking a fresh start in the West Coast, they apparently weren’t very friendly when an elderly neighbor tried to welcome them!
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Frank McGinity, an 88-year-old US Navy veteran who lives a “tiara’s toss or two” away from the Archewell founders, just revealed as much in his new memoir, Get Off Your Street: A Personal Travelogue.
According to the Montecito Journal via the Independent on Monday, in a chapter of the new book out in April, Frank claims he tried to gift Harry and Meghan with a set of films he made about the history of the area — but they rejected them! Setting the scene, he wrote:
“I have a big house next to Harry and Meghan’s property and I live in the guest house while renting the main house out on Airbnb.”
The writer continued:
“Harry and Meghan live on old McCormick property and I went up to their gate with the films on a CD, but they weren’t interested.”
Per his recollection, a security guard at the gate turned him away — pretty harshly, too! He noted:
“The gate guy turned me away and wouldn’t take the film, just saying ‘they’re not interested.’ I was trying to be neighborly.”
Jeez! It’s hard to know if Harry and Meg ever even knew about the gift. We could easily picture a scenario in which their guard just shooed the stranger out of an abundance of caution. This was an incredibly high-profile and stressful time for them! Still… it’s not very nice!
As for what it’s like to live next to royalty, Frank added this jab:
“We don’t see them very much around here. It’s surprising they came here. People are typically older. It’s where the elephants come to die.”
Oof!
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As Perezcious readers know, the couple moved to the property in July 2020 with Prince Archie (and they have since welcomed their daughter Princess Lilibet). They supposedly dropped $14,650,000 on the 18,000-square-foot property, which features rose gardens, century-old olive trees, a tennis court, a tea house, a children’s cottage, a pool, and a two-bedroom guest cottage.
That said, new reports from express.com.au this week claim the duo is looking to buy a place in Malibu, where they would be closer to the action as they focus their attention on conquering Hollywood. It’s unclear if they would ditch their Montecito property or just buy an additional home. So, Frank might not have to worry about his unfriendly neighbors much longer!
It’s worth mentioning, though, that Harry and Meghan have been much kinder to more recent visitors. For Archie’s fourth birthday this year, the owners of Mad Dogs & Englishmen Bike Shop hand-delivered a bike to him on his special day! One of the owners, Martin Blevins, reportedly just walked it over to the little boy’s house unannounced and left it with a guard alongside flowers, balloons, and a card. And guess what?! They received a thoughtful thank you letter weeks later! A very different reaction to Frank’s film! So, maybe the veteran just caught the couple on an off day?? Or they weren’t comfortable enough in the neighborhood yet to be accepting gifts? Either way, something clearly changed! Reactions?! Sound OFF (below)!