Hope Ranch realtor says locals 'not happy' over idea of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle move

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and their two children Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2, now live in Montecito, Santa Barbara, California. But rumours that they are planning to move to Hope Ranch have current residents feeling unhappy over the idea of having them as neighbours.

It has been nine months since the rumours first came out, but a Hope Ranch realtor said their office continues to receive phone calls from concerned longtime residents, who expressed fears that the media attention that follows the royal couple could potentially disturb the peace in the quiet community.

The realtor, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post, "The people that made the calls to me don't want change and they don't want all the hoopla."

"People are not happy, that's the word around town. They want them to stay in Montecito and not be drawing that kind of attention to Hope Ranch." Another realtor and Santa Barbara native chimed in, adding that "locals are worried" that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could turn Hope Ranch "into an extension of Montecito," where A-list celebrities live including Katy Perry with Orlando Bloom, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi, Oprah Winfrey, and Adam Levine.

Rumours that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have "been considering moving to Hope Ranch for a long time" have reportedly made the residents frantic. The second realtor claimed "people are up in arms about it."

A former Hope Ranch resident likewise claimed, "Introducing some very high-profile people (like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) would totally change the area. That's definitely not something that (the locals) want and I think (the homeowners' association) would fight hard against it."

"The heads of the HOA are careful about keeping it that way and preserving privacy — that's the No. 1 appeal of Hope Ranch. We're the only ones in the area with a private beach." Locals have reportedly sworn that they saw Meghan Markle on the private beach.

Adding to the Hope Ranch residents' concern are unverified claims that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's security detail closed down streets and blocked hiking trails in Montecito for the sake of privacy.

One Montecito shop employee told the publication, "It is really not right for streets to be closed down and things to be closed down. And that's been very disruptive to a small beach community that's used to being private. People pay a lot of money to live here, you know."

But a source close to the Sussexes doubted the claim, saying it is unlikely for private security to have the authority to close a public road. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have trouble finding a property in Hope Ranch, however, if the rumours are true.

According to Bryan Neyer, a Beverly Hills-based global luxury real estate specialist for Coldwell Banker Realty, estates in the area rarely come on the market, and sellers can be selective over the potential buyers. There is also the possibility of the houses getting passed down to family members instead of being sold.

"It's more of a small and very affluent community where properties do not come on the market very often because of that," he explained adding, "It's a lot of old money. Old generational wealth. These properties just get passed from one generation to the next."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle relocated to their Montecito mansion in June 2020 after they temporarily lived in Tyler Perry's Los Angeles mansion. Prior to that, they lived in Canada after they left their royal duties in the U.K. They bought their 18,000-square-foot house for a reported sum of 14.65 million and it hosts nine bedrooms and 16 bathrooms.