Good riddance! — Harry and Meghan branded a “laughing stock” as Montecito neighbours react to their shock UK move
HARRY and Meghan’s neighbours let out a sigh of relief when the couple announced their imminent exit from the US, declaring: “Good riddance.”
Shop owners, dog walkers and other gleeful residents all blasted the pair for ostracising themselves around the world and said they had “become a laughing stock”.
Gleeful neighbours have all blasted the couple for ostracising themselves around the world and said they had ‘become a laughing stock’ in the townCredit: Splash
Mary Sheldon, a bookstore owner in Montecito, believes the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have taken her postbox and she wants it back before they leaveCredit: Backgrid
They also said the moaning Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been the only A-listers who feel the need to walk around with bodyguards.
It is understood the Duchess, 45, is holed up in their £10million, 16-room Montecito mansion while the Duke, 41, has been away.
And news crews have been setting up outside the luxury pad after The Sun revealed they will be moving back to Britain this month.
It comes after six years of failed projects in the US, including a $100million Netflix deal that was never renewed and a $20million Spotify deal that got cancelled. An exec later crucified them as “f***ing grifters”.
Jennifer spoke to The Sun while walking her dog at the Montecito Country Mart where she used to work in one of the upmarket stores that Meghan has been spotted shopping at several times.
She said: “I worked in a store here and served Meghan and I know people who have worked with her on her Netflix show.
News crews have been setting up outside the luxury pad after The Sun revealed the couple will be moving back to Britain this month
An aerial shot of the £10million, 16-room Montecito mansionCredit: Google Earth
“She got all the ideas from other people. Nothing was original.
“She became a laughing stock here because all she would do is steal other people’s looks and ideas.
“Things like the floral arrangements and petals and gift boxes featured in the show were not made by her.
“They were made by other people working on the show and even the ideas for them that make up the As Ever range were taken from other people in the town.”
A relieved Jennifer continued: “I feel sorry for them but hope they find happiness. I feel they have ostracized themselves here and abroad. I fear for their future.”
Another member of staff at another popular store at the Montecito Country Mart said: “I’m glad they’re leaving. Good riddance. Meghan spoke about my favorite beach Butterfly Beach in her show and ruined it.
“She said she has drunk champagne there with friends but that had to be a lie.
“It is not legal to drink on the beach here. And after that it just became too crowded, I just can’t go there anymore, there’s never anywhere to park.
“That’s the effect they had here in town. They’re the only celebrities here who go around with bodyguards.
“Other A-listers just as famous and likely richer than them walk around casually like any normal person.”
A general view of the entryway to a private road leading to Harry’s and his wife’s home in MontecitoCredit: Reuters
Another local said Meghan once spoke about her favorite beach, Butterfly Beach, in her TV show and ‘ruined it’ for herCredit: Alamy
“I’ll have to go and knock on the door and ask for it back. But seriously, I have been speaking to my friends about why they’re moving out.
Mary Sheldon, owner of the Tecolote bookstore in Montecito where she has lived all her life, said she wants to speak to Harry and Meghan before they leave – because she believes they may have taken her postbox.
“My postbox got swept away in the last mudslides and I live up the creek from them, a miles or two, and I am sure it would have got swept up onto their land,” she said.
“We can’t figure it out. This town has everything for them and they’ve been here several years and have friends and other famous people.
“We sold Harry’s book here and it was a decent seller but we never knew where to stock it, either local writer or his surname but we could never figure out what his surname is.”
The Sun revealed on Thursday that Harry and Meghan will return later this month after fleeing to the US and breaking away from the Royal Family.
They have already secured somewhere to live as well as school places for their young children, Archie and Lilibet.
But their popularity in Britain does not appear to be any better than in the States.
Some locals were excited when the pair first arrived six years ago before things turned sourCredit: The US Sun
Harry and Meghan have taken over Montecito in California since moving to the StatesCredit: Getty
A YouGov poll found that just 21 per cent think they should come back, with 33 per cent saying they should not. But 45 per cent said they are unsure.
Older people are more likely to think they should stay away, with 57 per cent of over-65s not wanting them back, while 24 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds think the same.
Meghan and Harry’s sensational breakaway from Britain has been dominated ever since by cringe celebrity appearances, transatlantic mud-slinging at the Royal Family, flop media projects and, more recently, a pivot towards a more pseudo-royal way of life.
The couple first settled in Montecito, California, in July 2020, after briefly staying in Vancouver Island, Canada, and then Tyler Perry’s mansion in LA.
They then used it as their base to launch Archewell, and secured high-profile deals with Netflix and Spotify.
They also filmed their incendiary interview with neighbour Oprah Winfrey near their estate in March 2021.
In the interview, they made a series of explosive claims about the Royal Family, alleging racism and isolation.
They claimed a member of the Royal Family had “concerns and conversations” about how dark their then-unborn son Archie’s skin may be.
Harry at the High Court for a past hearing in his battle over taxpayer-funded security in the UKCredit: Getty
The couple with children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, fiveCredit: Refer to Caption
Meghan also said she had severe depression and suicidal thoughts, and claimed the institution refused to get her help.
Prince Harry said his brother and father were “trapped” in the institution and moaned that the family cut him off financially after they decided to step back from their roles.
And Meghan hit back at claims that she made Catherine cry during a bridesmaid dress fitting before the 2018 royal wedding – instead accusing the then Duchess of Cambridge of making her cry.
The interview was met with widespread fury in Britain, while American audiences were more sympathetic.
But their popularity in the States began to fall when the couple repeatedly moaned about their life.
In the six-part Netflix series Harry & Meghan, they again accused royal press offices of leaking stories, and the Duke claimed his brother screamed and shouted at him during the high-stakes Sandringham summit when the couple first announced their plans to leave.
Prince Harry later continued moaning in his autobiography Spare and revealed hugely personal details that turned him into a laughing stock.
They included him describing in detail the moment he lost his virginity with an older woman in a field behind a pub.
He also admitted to experimenting with cocaine as a teenager, smoking weed and using magic mushrooms. He recounted a hallucination where a bathroom bin began talking to him.
Elsewhere, he revealed he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his time as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan, describing them as “chess pieces removed from the board”.
Furious military figures and anti-war groups lashed out at him over security concerns over it.
The couple’s popularity in the States hit crisis point after the book, with the moaning couple seen just as bitter ex- Royals.
A month after Spare was published, South Park mocked them in a parody episode “Worldwide Privacy Tour”.
It showed Harry and Meghan flying around the world in a private jet and appearing on chat shows with placards reading “we want our privacy” and “stop looking at us”.
And in June 2023, Spotify axed its deal with Archewell Audio after just 12 episodes of Meghan’s podcast. And Spotify exec Bill Simmons later called the couple “f***ing grifters”.
Since then, they appear to have tried a pivot back into an alternative pseudo-royal way of life with tours of other countries, while also launching other commercial enterprises like Meghan’s As Ever.
It was intended to mark an end of their public trashing of the Royal Family.
But the Duchess again faced fury when a video surfaced of her sending a card to a friend using her HRH title.
Prince Harry and Meghan lost the use of their HRH titles when they stopped being working royals in 2020.
Sources close to the Duchess insisted she did not use the title for any public purpose.
