Harry, Meghan's home with Indian link costs UK taxpayers £2.4 mn

London: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle's new home, a 19th century cottage with an Indian connection on Windsor estate, cost the UK taxpayers a whopping 2.4 million pounds in refurbishment, according to annual royal accounts released on Tuesday.

Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Queen Elizabeth II's Windsor estate was chosen by the royal couple as their family home last year.

The couple's new home has an Indian connection as a royal gift to Abdul Karim by Queen Victoria, then Empress of India, as a sign of her affection for her Indian aide and confidant.

In 2018, it was a gift from Harry's grandmother, the Queen, to the newly-wed couple who are now settled into the cottage with new-born baby Archie.

According to the latest royal accounts, months of renovation work to turn the property spread over five separate spaces into one single home was paid for by the UK's Sovereign Grant.

"The property had not been the subject of work for some years and had already been earmarked for renovation in line with our responsibility to maintain the condition of the occupied royal palaces estate," said Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, in charge of the 93-year-old monarch's finances.

The refurbishment took about six months with some areas yet to be completed, such as repainting the exterior. Any upgrades to standard fixtures and fittings were paid for by Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, palace officials said.

The cottage is set within the peaceful and secluded Frogmore House estate, near Windsor Castle, surrounded by 35 acres of lush vegetation and Berkshire countryside.

The estate has its own man-made lake, Frogmore Lake, and is home to the Royal Burial Ground and the tomb of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.