Sightings of Meghan at star-studded retreat fuel Cotswolds rumours

Reports of Soho Farmhouse visit add to speculation Duke and Duchess of Sussex could be settling in the area

W hen the Duke and Duchess of Sussex landed back in England earlier this summer, six years after they moved to California and quit as working royals, speculation was rife about where they would call home.

Now, members of the luxury countryside retreat Soho Farmhouse have said they spotted Meghan arriving for an early morning coffee, sparking speculation that the couple were settling down in the exclusive countryside enclave of north Oxfordshire. The correspondent for the Royalist Tom Sykes said the duchess was seen arriving at the Comfy Farm lounge before 9am, where she was introduced to senior staff members by name.

The Cotswolds club, set in 40 hectares (100 acres) of countryside and featuring a luxury spa, 40 discreet guest cabins, and an indoor-outdoor pool, is a hotspot for celebrities.

If it is true that the Sussex family are staying in a property near the club, their neighbours will include the Beckhams, who live within walking distance of Soho Farmhouse and are often seen enjoying dinners and strolls in the grounds.

Paul McCartney also visits with his fashion designer daughter, Stella, who has a house nearby. Meghan and Harry previously rented a house in picturesque Great Tew, a village full of thatched chocolate-box cottages a stone’s throw from the Beckhams.

Another potential neighbour is Geri Halliwell-Horner and her husband, Christian Horner, who live in a £9m former vicarage in nearby Banbury. They share a love of animals with Meghan and have a menagerie on the estate including miniature donkeys. The Telegraph reported that the Sussexes left their rescue chickens back in Montecito but would transport their dogs over.

There have been rumblings of a royal return in the Cotswolds, with the local papers reporting on their move. Their children, Archie and Lilibet, are enrolled at a school for the new term, and parents at a school in the area have reported being sent letters reminding them to maintain the privacy of other children and parents and not to take pictures or share any information about others there.

Although the more than 200,000 members have made Soho House feel less exclusive to some, Soho Farmhouse is still a favourite venue for A-list stars including Taylor Swift, Kate Moss, Tom Cruise and Harry Styles. This could be because it costs £325 a month to be a member, which screens out many members of the public, and taking photographs inside any of its venues is strictly forbidden. The chain recently announced it had banned Meta glasses over privacy fears.

There could also be more royal reunions in the offing, as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are regulars at Soho Farmhouse. Eugenie was the first member of the royal family to visit the couple when they moved out to the US.

King Charles wrote to the government on Monday to reiterate that the Sussexes would be private citizens in the UK. He said that would bring the couple “personal latitude … in respect of financial independence and protection of their privacy as they would wish”.

It is a venue that is likely to feel safe to Meghan. In Harry’s memoir, Spare, he wrote that Soho House on Dean Street was “her headquarters whenever she came to London”. He added: “Sometimes she just left her luggage at Soho House for weeks. They stored it without question. The people there were like family.” The couple met there for their first date.

During the same 2016 visit, Meghan was pictured cycling around the grounds of Soho Farmhouse with the Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh. She also reportedly hosted her hen party at the Cotswolds retreat in 2018.

Meghan is a close friend of the Soho House executive Markus Anderson, who is thought to have introduced her to high society in London when she visited in 2016. The two met in 2011 in Anderson’s home country, Canada, as she filmed the TV show Suits.

Harry has several charitable events in the UK planned, including the WellChild awards in London at the end of this month. He will also be getting ready for the Invictus Games, to be held in Birmingham next summer. It has been reported that Meghan may be seeking acting roles, and she recently said she “sometimes” missed her old job and liked being around a crew when filming her Netflix cookery show.

The pair “love” the Oxfordshire countryside and reportedly made the Cotswolds their base when they visited earlier this year to see King Charles. They also rented a place when they were still working royals.

In Spare, Harry wrote: “We thought we could move into Oxfordshire full-time.

“We loved it out there. The air fresh, the verdant grounds plus, no paps.” It seems, perhaps, they have finally achieved this.

Soho House has been approached for comment. A spokesperson for the Sussexes declined to comment.