Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Montecito Neighbor Reveals What the Local Community Really Thinks of the Couple

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Montecito neighbor has spoken out to reveal what it’s like to live near the royal couple in the star-studded California enclave.

Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, who wed in 2018, moved to a $14.65 million mansion in the same neighborhood as A-listers like Katy Perry, Ellen DeGeneres, and Oprah back in 2020 when they sensationally quit their roles as senior working royals.

But while the couple, who share two children, Archie and Lilibet, have openly gushed about how happy their lives are in the U.S., it seems some of their fellow Montecito residents have been less than impressed with how Meghan and Harry have integrated themselves into the area.

Speaking in a newly released German documentary entitled “Harry: The Lost Prince,” Richard Mineards, one of the couple’s neighbors, issued a scathing assessment of Meghan, claiming that she has not been an “asset” to their neighborhood.

“I personally don’t think that Meghan is an asset to our community,” he said. “She doesn’t really go out or get involved with the community.”

Richard, a journalist and TV correspondent who has lived in Montecito for 13 years, spoke more warmly of Harry, saying that the Duke of Sussex has a “jolly” demeanor but still tends to keep to himself as far as the locals are concerned.

“Harry has [gotten involved] to a certain extent, because he’s quite jolly … but Meghan doesn’t seem to get seen anywhere. … And you don’t see him either,” he went on, also noting that Harry and Meghan live a very privileged—and pricey—lifestyle in the area.

“It doesn’t come cheap. I mean … most houses are about 8 or 9 million dollars,” he went on.

Elsewhere in the documentary, royal-focused podcast host Jack Royston adds that the couple appears to have made themselves “part of an elite in America,” noting that this will do little to help their perception with people in the U.K.—or the royal family.

Despite the less-than-positive feedback from their neighbor, Harry insisted during a recent appearance at the DealBook Summit that he and Meghan love their life in the U.S., saying: “I very much enjoy living here and bringing up my kids here.”

Certainly, Harry and Meghan enjoy a very luxurious lifestyle in Montecito, where they own a sprawling Mediterranean-style mansion.

That property boasts a nine bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, a pool, and a tennis court, as well as a beautiful garden, which Meghan revealed in 2022 was the reason they fell in love with the home in the first place.

“One of the first things my husband saw when we walked around the house was those two palm trees,” she shared in an interview with The Cut. “We did everything we could to get this house.”

However, far from finding the home through a high-paid broker, Meghan revealed that they actually stumbled across the property online.

“We were looking in this area, and this house kept popping up online in searches,” she recalled, adding that they actually hesitated to view it because of its sky-high price tag.

“We didn’t have jobs, so we just were not going to come and see this house. It wasn’t possible,” she said. “It’s like when I was younger and you’re window shopping. It’s like, ‘I don’t want to go and look at all the things that I can’t afford. That doesn’t feel good.’”

Although Harry and Meghan have gone to great lengths to keep the interiors of their home private, they have shared a few small glimpses inside the property over the years—including images and clips that were aired as part of their 2022 Netflix series, “Harry & Meghan.”

The couple chose to shoot their on-camera interviews for the series in a rental property; however, they offered up some personal home videos to the streaming site for use in the six-episode series, some of which featured sneak peeks at their home.

According to recent reports, the couple is now weighing up which local school they would like to send their children to, with royal expert Tom Quinn claiming they are considering a prestigious private institution in the Montecito area.

“Lily is lined up for $60,000 a year private school,” he told The Mirror. “Early on there were rumors that Meghan and Harry might send their children to a local state school but that was never really on the cards.

“It made it look as if the couple were trying to be as ordinary as possible but no one was fooled. Apart from anything else, Harry wouldn’t countenance risking his children being educated in anything other than in an elite environment. Choosing an elite school is very much in the royal family tradition.”