Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have yet to win over their neighbours in Montecito despite having lived there for four years, reports suggest.
The Duke and Duchess moved to the celebrity enclave in California, making their home in the town after stepping back as working royals and leaving the UK in 2020.
A German filmmaker spoke to Harry and Meghan’s fellow residents for the documentary Harry—The Lost Prince, which first aired on Germany’s ZDF broadcaster.
Richard Mineards, who is a society columnist for the Montecito Journal, told the programme Meghan is not an “asset” to the neighbourhood, adding: “She doesn’t really go out or get involved with the community.
“Harry has to a certain extent, because he’s quite jolly… But Meghan doesn’t seem to get seen anywhere… And you don’t see him either.”
Royal expert Duncan Larcombe told the Mirror that the Sussexes are the “public couple” who claim to “crave privacy,” which he supposed also involves their local community.
He added that based on the documentary, Meghan and Harry are “keeping themselves close to themselves”, and “by the sounds of it”, this “doesn’t go down well at all in their community”.
It is not the first time the Sussexes’ neighbours have shared their impressions of their world-famous neighbours.
In September, an unnamed neighbour told the Telegraph that Harry is normally spotted walking the family’s Labrador on the beach or cycling with his security detail following behind.
They said: “They keep themselves to themselves. I haven’t seen Harry around much.”
While Mr Mineards told Harry—The Lost Prince that Meghan isn’t seen, the unnamed local said the Duchess is seen out more than her husband. According to the Montecito resident, this typically involves normal things such as shopping and having lunch with pals.
Mr Mineards told the same publication that there are many very rich and famous people in Montecito, but none have a security detail similar to Harry and Meghan’s.
He said: “The community is waiting for them – they’re gnashing at the bit. The cachet of a Duke and Duchess!”
Another neighbour, Frank McGinity, said he lived a “tiara’s toss or two” from the Sussexes, but he told the Montecito Journal they aren’t seen much.
In his memoir, Get Off Your Street, he wrote that he was thwarted by security at the gates to the Sussexes’ mansion when he tried to present them with some history films he made of the local area and wanted to give them by way of welcoming them to the neighbourhood.