Meghan & Harry Moving to L.A. After Being 'Bashed' by Neighbors (EXCL)
Meghan Markle is being roasted by snooty neighbors in Montecito, California, once again – this time in the German documentary, Harry: The Lost Prince – but she’s brushing off the noise and eyeing up a possible move to Los Angeles in 2025 to find a better fit socially, a source exclusively tells Life & Style.
Meghan, 43, and her red-headed husband, 40, moved into their opulent nine-bedroom abode on the Pacific coast in 2020, just after they ditched the U.K. and their royal roles. But their fellow well-to-do neighbors claimed the former Firm family are barely members of the community and don’t ever really put themselves out there.
The Duchess of Sussex was singled out as particularly un-neighborly, with Richard Mineards telling the documentarians, “I personally don’t think that Meghan is an asset to our community … She doesn’t really go out or get involved with the community.”
Though the insider insists it’s all nonsense, with Meghan “saying these accusations are absurd,” and that she’s plenty social, with “friends at the Polo Club and a very exclusive group of other celebs and Hollywood types that they hang around.”
“Of course,” the source continues, “that doesn’t mean it’s not uncomfortable to get bashed by these busybodies. Meghan still loves Montecito, she always says how gorgeous it is, but the neighborhood vibe isn’t totally her speed.”
As Life & Style previously reported, the Sussexes have been on a hunt for a more A-list social circle. A second source said that Meghan in particular was thrilled with her husband’s recent bromance with Jelly Roll, which “is the perfect way to get her foot in the door” of a country-star group of friends.
“She’s now had her eyes opened to what they could be missing out on. She’s not going to hitch her wagon to just anyone, she’s going to be choosy, but the fact is the country music world has changed a lot. There’s a lot more diversity and a whole lot of money and power and opportunity to do some social climbing in Nashville and in the south, so why not take a swing at it?” the source said.
There’s also been reports of the couple attempting to thaw relations with the royal family and make a return to Europe, for at least part of the year. They recently closed on a vacation home in Portugal, near where Harry’s cousin Princess Beatrice and her husband spend their summers.
“She thrives in community with likeminded people,” the first source says, adding, “as gorgeous as Montecito is, it does have a very small-town vibe,” which means a move to Los Angeles is actually most likely.
“[Montecito] is actually a vacation spot for a lot of people from L.A., so a lot of Meghan’s friends there aren’t around full time.”
“Moving closer to the city, maybe even the outskirts of Malibu where they could still have a big property with privacy but also be closer to the action and the movers and shakers is discussed a lot,” the insider adds, “so there’s every chance a move could happen sometime in 2025.”