Taxpayers Paid $3 Million For Prince Henry And Meghan’s Mansion Makeover

Piers Morgan has been triggered by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, not because of who they are but because of Frogmore Cottage, their new home.

That’s because British taxpayers were forced to pay $3.06 million to refurbish said cottage.

But “cottage” is actually a misnomer because it’s located in the 33-acre grounds of Frogmore Estate. Its size was such that before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to live there, the “cottage” was segregated into five separate housing units for the estate workers.

Said, Morgan:

Now, I’ve got no problem with Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, wanting to live in such a grand property, which was built in 1801 at the direction of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, as a retreat for her and her unmarried daughters.

But I do have a big problem with being forced to pay for it, and so it seems to do the vast majority of Britons judging by a poll we conducted today on the TV show I co-present, Good Morning Britain.

A staggering 87% of over 14,000 people who voted answered ‘NO’ to the question: ‘Should the taxpayer pay £2.4 million for the redevelopment of Harry and Meghan’s official residence?’

That result should cause considerable concern to the Royal Family.

The reason that Morgan and so many other Brits are outraged is that Prince Harry and Markle were already comfortably ensconced in Kensington Palace. And when they wanted to move out, the Duke of Gloucester offered them an even larger and more opulent apartment within Palace grounds.

It would have been perfect as no additional security measures were needed. But it had one big disadvantage, at least for the Sussexes: it would have placed them next door to Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Both Prince Harry and Markle declined the Duke of Gloucester’s offer, further fueling speculation that the relationship between the Sussexes and the Cambridges are really strained.

So now Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have practically fled London to move to a mansion near Windsor Castle. While Morgan concedes that this is their right, he draws the line at taxpayers having to pay for that move, especially since the royal couple has enough assets to pay for everything themselves.

And the lavish remodeling couldn’t have come at a worse time. According to Morgan:

News of this astonishingly large taxpayer burden (and that’s just so far, the work isn’t finished and nor is the bill to pay for it) couldn’t have come at a worse time given that Britain has been enduring a sustained period of government-driven austerity that has led to widespread budget cuts in many important spending areas like education and social welfare.

And it’s more than just about the rumored feud with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Morgan continues:

Whatever the truth, the single worst way to nail the gossip about a feud is to look like you can’t bear to be anywhere near someone.

And the single worst way to get public support for going to live in a country mansion is to then make the taxpayer pay for the privilege.

The uproar over the cost of Frogmore Cottage is the latest story of extravagance to beset Meghan who committed a PR disaster earlier this year by throwing a $500,000 baby shower in New York.

Barely a week goes by without new tales of her lavish spending on jewelry and clothing.

After drawing several unsavory comparisons to Kim Kardashian, Morgan said that Kim had one redeeming quality over Markle: she actually paid for all of her stuff.

Continued Morgan:

And that, right there, is the problem with Meghan Markle.

She wants all the Kardashian-style fame and fortune that comes with being a royal, but she wants taxpayers to support it.

And I wouldn’t mind so much if she didn’t then shirk important royal duties like turning out to meet the President of the United States on his state visit, just because she doesn’t like Donald Trump.

There’s a deal if you become a royal – you get the luxury and privilege, but you have to put the work in.

When you don’t, public unrest follows very quickly.

And he ended by saying that Markle had a choice between being a princess or a Kardashian, but she couldn’t be both.