The Californians

Ensconced in their cozy Montecito mansion, Harry and Meghan are living the California dream, raising their own little prince and princess. By all accounts, the love is real. But five years after their break with the monarchy, their foray into moguldom has not always been a smooth ride

- ANNA PEELE

THE HOUSE PROVED it: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex could have it all. Their Montecito home offered all the fresh promises of a 21st-century California mansion and the cloistering of a gated neighborhood from which they could emerge on their own terms. In the house's 13 fireplaces, described as “mostly centuries old examples brought over from France,” there was even some European history, stripped of any potentially uncomfortable context.

At $14.65 million for more than 18,000 square feet, half the current median price per square foot in Montecito, Rockbridge was a steal. The area's fires and floods—along with the fact that the oligarch owner's romantic relationship had deteriorated to the point where he was compelled to offload far below market value, according to a source with knowledge—made the property just right for the duke and duchess, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It was the perfect launchpad for Archewell, their nonprofit and entertainment studio—an approximation of a part noblesse oblige, part aspiring independently wealthy mogul model, one that Elizabeth, Charles, and William rejected by fiat during the January 2020 “Sandringham Summit.”

This January marks five years since that failed parley. Leaving the royal family has brought tests for the couple— legal, financial, reputational, personal, and practical. Going from divinely chosen (or at least chosen by someone else who was divinely chosen) members of a 1,200-year-old institution to start-up founders in exile is a tough adjustment. But there has also been opportunity. Over many months,