Queen Elizabeth II rejected a request from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to reside in Windsor Castle after they married, before the late Queen gifted the newlyweds Frogmore Cottage instead.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry moved into Frogmore Cottage in 2019, just weeks before welcoming their firstborn, Prince Archie, and almost exactly a year after they wed.

Reports claim that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex first had their eye on living quarters within Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were already residing. 

According to the Daily Express, the couple asked Queen Elizabeth II whether “living quarters could be made available” in Windsor Castle after their 2018 wedding at St George’s Chapel.

The proposal is reported to have been “firmly” rejected by Queen Elizabeth.

Royal biographer Hugo Vickers said that while the castle may have had the capacity to accommodate the Duke and Duchess, it was no place for a growing family to reside.

“There are empty bedrooms and suites in the private apartments which the Sussexes may have had their eye on, or perhaps some former living quarters in the castle grounds converted into other things,” Vickers told The Times.

“But I can see how it might not be entirely appropriate to have a young family living there.”

The newlyweds were not left empty-handed, though, and were offered Frogmore Cottage as consolation. 

The Cottage has been described as the Queen’s “private residence”, with a royal insider saying that it was “a big deal” for the elderly queen to share. 

Royal expert Katie Nicholl wrote in her book The New Royals that “the cottage was a big deal. The Queen’s entrance into the gardens is right next to their cottage”.

“It is essentially her backyard, her solitude, and her privacy,” she added. 

“She was giving that up in gifting Harry and Meghan Frogmore Cottage. We all thought it was very big of her. She said, ‘I hope they’ll respect it.'”

Frogmore Cottage turned out to be the backdrop for the Duke and Duchess’s happier times in the United Kingdom. 

In his memoir Spare, Harry shared a glimpse into the couple’s world during their time at the royal residence, saying: “We loved that place. From the first minute. It felt as if we were destined to live there”.