Exclusive: Harry and Meghan confirm royal 'request' to move out of their Frogmore Cottage home

Prince Harry and Meghan have confirmed they have been asked to leave their Frogmore Cottage home in Windsor, Yahoo News UK can reveal.

On Tuesday, it emerged the King had offered the keys to Frogmore Cottage to Prince Andrew, who it is believed has been told by King Charles to leave his own nearby Royal Lodge residence by this autumn. Andrew is said to be reluctant to downsize from the Grade II-listed property.

In a short statement, the global press secretary for the Sussexes said: "We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage."

Charles's decision comes in the wake of the couple’s damning revelations about the King, Prince William and other royals in his recent memoir Spare, a Netflix documentary and a series of TV interviews.

According to Yahoo's royal executive editor Omid Scobie, the Sussexes have been given until early summer to vacate the property.

The decision is likely to have upset the couple as they regard Frogmore Cottage as the only place they can stay in the UK that has sufficient security for their family.

The issue of their security following their withdrawal as senior royals in 2020 has been a significant concern for Harry and Meghan.

In February 2020, Harry was told he would no longer be given the "same degree" of personal protective security when visiting the UK.

The prince subsequently launched legal action against the Home Office after it decided he could not pay for police protection for himself and his family when visiting from North America.

Harry believes he requires personal protective security because a private security team would not have access to the kind of intelligence or jurisdiction needed to keep him and his family entirely safe.

Harry and Meghan were handed Frogmore Cottage by the Queen following their marriage in 2018. After stepping down from their royal duties in 2020, they moved to California to forge new lives and careers, but Frogmore Cottage remained their British base.

They also agreed to pay back the £2.4m of taxpayers' money that was spent renovating the house.

Harry's cousin Eugenie, Andrew's younger daughter, and her husband were given use of the home after the couple left.

Harry and Meghan have rarely returned to Britain since their departure for the US, but have used Frogmore on the few occasions they have been back, such as for celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee last year.

Relations between the couple and the rest of the family have become even more strained since then following stinging criticisms of the royals and their aides in his book Spare, which broke sales records on its release in January.

The disagreements have cast major doubts on whether Harry will attend his father's coronation in May.

Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on the report.

Watch: Did Prince Charles really want the Queen to abdicate?