Harry and Meghan Tangled Up in Neighbor Drama
"The neighborhood is never going to be the same."
Celebrities (and even Royals) are just like us – they have neighbors. While their houses might not be as close to other people as most commoners, they still have to deal with the drama that comes with sharing a property line with someone else. This week, an elderly neighbor of controversial couple Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared about a drama going on in their posh Montecito neighborhood, dubbing them "rude."
"Globetrotting accountant" Frank McGinity, an 88-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, "lives a tiara's toss or two from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle," as stated by the Montecito Journal. He recently published an updated edition of his book Get Off Your Street.
In one chapter, he recounts how to tried to welcome the couple into the neighborhood. He claims he went to the couple's multi-million dollar mansion to offer them some of his homemade films about local history.
"I have a big house next to Harry and Meghan's property, and I live in the guest house while renting the main house out on Airbnb," he said. "Harry and Meghan live on old McCormick property and I went up to their gate with the films on a CD, but they weren't interested," he claimed.
According to McGinity, he was denied entrance. "The gate guy turned me away and wouldn't take the film, just saying, 'They're not interested.' I was trying to be neighborly."
"They definitely have brought a lot of attention to my sleepy little town," Rob Lowe, who has lived in Montecito for decades, told E! in 2021. "Let me tell you something: Once the royals move into your neighborhood, the neighborhood is never going to be the same."
Other neighbors don't have an issue with the couple. "They're mostly out walking their dog," one, who did not want to be identified by name, previously told The Guardian. "They're very quiet, lovely people."
"For most Montecitans, if not most Americans, royal-watching is like bangers and mash – it's something we've heard of but isn't really our culture," Les Firestein, a former Hollywood comedy writer turned local magazine editor, added. "We don't really notice Harry and Meghan, though sometimes the locals get rankled by the British tabloids trying to get to them."
