Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been living in southern California for about five months, but in July they moved into the first house they bought on their own, in the small Santa Barbara community of Montecito. Earlier reports indicated that Harry was having a hard time transitioning into his new American life, but according to the Sun, there is some evidence that their new home is a happy one. The newspaper reports that the couple has a playful relationship with their staff, and that they even like to tease Meghan about the British mannerisms she adopted into her speech over her two-year stay in the U.K.
“Her staff think it’s amusing to listen to an American celebrity using Britishisms. She’s often heard saying, ‘Oh dahling,’ to people at home,” an insider said. “They do have a giggle about it and sometimes they do impressions of her but only in a light-hearted way. It’s funny to them.”
It’s a far cry from the sort of reporting that we used to hear about Meghan and her staff before the couple’s royal exit earlier this year. Ever since she married Harry in 2018, she was rumored to have a difficult relationship with her staff, and palace insiders were constantly leaking details about her interactions with others in the household. In the new biography, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Royal Family, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand note that by the time the couple moved to Frogmore Cottage in spring 2019, they were down to just a few staffers, none of whom lived in the house, partly due to concerns over leaks and what they saw as mistreatment from courtiers and aides in the palace.
While the Sun’s source doesn’t divulge anything more about how the couple are staffing their 9-bedroom home, they did add that they’re also becoming close to Harry as well. “The staff there love to hear Harry’s accent, too. They adore him,” the insider said. “He’s very well-mannered and staff were shocked by how down-to-earth he is as a royal. He just wants to live a more normal life now in California and enjoy family time.”
At first, Los Angeles reportedly wasn’t to his liking, but now that they’re settling into a more private home—and even painting—maybe he’ll go full American any day now. “No doubt he’ll start to pick up Americanisms soon and will be asking staff to take out the trash,” the source told the Sun.
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