Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Are Moving Out — & The Royal Rumors Are Wild

Turns out Prince Harry and Meghan Markle won’t be neighbors to Prince William and Kate Middleton after all.

Royal rumors of tension between the brothers began swirling when news surfaced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wouldn’t permanently be putting down roots in Kensington Palace in the apartment located directly next to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Instead, The Sun reported that Harry and Meghan will move into Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate. This is allegedly due to speculation from British tabloids that the couple doesn’t “want to live next to William and Kate and want to strike out on their own.”

It looks like those rumors might have a grain of truth: the Palace recently confirmed the move and provided a timeline for it.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will move to Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate early next year as they prepare for the arrival of their first child. The couple have lived at Nottingham Cottage since their engagement last year,” the statement read. “Windsor is a very special place for Their Royal Highnesses and they are grateful that their official residence will be on the estate. The Duke and Duchess's office will continue to be based at Kensington Palace.”

As far as the rumored tension between William and Harry, it seems to be centered around the reports that Harry will set up his own court, distinct from William’s after Meghan gives birth. Doing so will allow Harry and Meghan to pursue “more discursive and creative” projects such as the Invictus Games and the campaign for girls’ empowerment in Africa, according to Robert Lacey, a royal historian and consultant for Netflix’s The Crown.

On the move to establish separate courts, Lacey told The Daily Beast that “it’s overdue really. It makes sense because although they will act as a team in the future, the functions of the team members will change.”

Obviously, the Palace didn’t address whether or not the courts' separation was the underlying catalyst for the move. Some seem to have run with the royal rumor, though and are determined to pit the two brothers against each other, much like what’s been done with Meghan and Kate.

Now I know photos don’t show everything, but judging by how happy everyone looked in Prince Charles’ 70th birthday portrait, one can probably rule out any major drama between William and Harry. The two probably just want a little space to branch out and forge new normals with their own families, and who could blame them for that?