Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are reportedly being branded local villains by neighbors in the posh California town the couple fled to after abandoning their royal roles.
A Montecito resident, who never met the couple but spoke to Vanity Faircalled the duo a prince and a “starlet.”
Neighbors in the quiet Santa Barbara neighborhood blame many of the new annoyances on Markle and Prince Harry, including rising real estate prices, busy streets and more.
The neighborhood has seen significantly more tourist traffic since Markle and Harry’s arrival in 2020, anonymous residents told the outlet. Vanity Fair also reported that several people they spoke with noted that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had become local villains.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been called local villains in their Montecito neighborhood, according to Vanity Fair. (Fox News Digital)
“You know, the thing about [Meghan and Harry] it’s so great that they didn’t come here to make a living from our community. They came here to be part of our community. »
Markle’s latest business venture, American Riviera Orchard, is also located in Montecito, Vanity Fair reported. According to the news outlet, a book published by the Southern Pacific Company Rail Lines in 1898 states, “The Montecito is known as the American Riviera.” However, that honor would now belong to Santa Barbara.
“It’s a kind of bargain,” one resident told Vanity Fair. “It’s just about finding every possible way to monetize something.
“I still think they are the most dishonest and honest people on the planet,” the resident added. “They left England to escape the control of the press, and all they are doing is trying to get into the press in the United States.”
Fox News Digital has contacted representatives of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for comment.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t the only celebrities to live in Montecito. (Chris Jackson)
Meanwhile, the couple’s arrival was greeted by their famous neighbor Sharon Stone.
“You know, what’s great about them is they didn’t come here to make a living from our community. They came here to be a part of our community,” she said. Access Hollywood in 2020.
“My friend said she was sitting in her car, and they rode their bikes across the street and waved at her while she was sitting at the red light,” she recalled. “They are part of our community. They have become generous, caring and participating members of our community.. They’re not there to say, “Would you like to kiss my butt?” »
Montecito has hosted a handful of celebrities, including Natalie Portman, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adam Levine, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Keaton and Oprah.
The gate to the estate where Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle live in Montecito. (Getty Images)
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Although he moved to the United States five years ago after stepping back from his primary duties in royal life, Prince Harry reportedly has no social life outside of his nuclear family.
“[Meghan] was upfront about the fact that Harry hadn’t made many friends yet,” a source who had previously interacted professionally with Markle told Vanity Fair.
Markle and Prince Harry threw themselves into business and landed a bombshell deal with Netflix months after establishing Montecito as their home in 2020. First they released their docuseries, “Harry and Meghan”, in 2022. The show achieved the largest single-day audience for any Netflix series since monitoring began in October 2022. A year later, they followed up with the documentary series “Heart of Invictus” in 2023 and produced “Polo” in 2024.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to California in 2020. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)
However, multiple sources described Markle and Prince Harry as having “really good ideas” for shows that were never made.
“I think Harry doesn’t know what he wants because he grew up in a fishbowl, and so he doesn’t know what real life is really like,” a source told Vanity Fair. worked on media projects with the couple. “I think he probably wants to be left alone and be able to go kiss babies every once in a while and not have to worry about money. I don’t think he wants to be famous like Meghan wants to be.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 2021 at a friend of Winfrey’s home in Santa Barbara County, California. (HarpoProductions)
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Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
