Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Montecito mansion facing power wipeout amid emergency
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Montecito mansion could be cut off after the state of California announced a state of emergency in the region.
Power supplier Southern California Edison (SCE) announced it was considering a Public Safety Power Shutoff in both the Montecito and Santa Barbara areas as the region continues to deal with the emergency, reported edhat.
A spokesperson for SCE confirmed that "affected customers" were being contacted in several communities "including Montecito" with the former royal couple's address situated in what has been defined as a "High Fire Risk Area".
Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, moved to Montecito following their exit from the Royal Family at the start of 2020 five years ago.
During 2024 there was repeated speculation the pair might decide to exit the United States with reports they had bought a property in Portugal and rumours that Harry wanted to move back to the UK.
Despite mountains of commentary by experts the pair have so far ruled out a permanent return to the UK with Harry citing the safety of Meghan as a primary concern.
In an interview for the ITV documentary ‘Tabloids On Trial’ released last year he said he wouldn't bring Meghan back because of “genuine concerns” he held at the time.
He explained: “All it takes is for one lone actor who reads this stuff to act on what they've read. And whether it's a knife or acid, these are things that are genuine concerns for me. It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country."
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Despite this, Harry has made multiple visits to the UK in the past 12 months with another visit planned for the early part of this year as part of his ongoing trial against the publishers of The Sun.
Speaking to same publication about why Meghan would not return to the UK royal commentator Sarah Hewson claimed the reason was because the Duchess of Sussex wanted nothing to do with the rest of the Royal Family.
She said: “All the signs around Meghan are that she really doesn’t have any desire to set foot in this country again… I’m not sure Meghan is particularly someone who wants to go off stalking and shooting.”
Meanwhile, there will be renewed questions over whether Harry and Meghan and their children, five-year-old Archie-Harrison and three-year-old Princess Lillibet Diana will have to leave if their mansion is threatened by wildfires that some experts say have not yet peaked.
Speaking to the BBC, fire ecologist Chad Hanson said: “The most extreme fire weather is projected to occur between 02:00 - 06:00 Pacific time. So, we are not even in the worst of it yet. It's going to be quite a rough night… It is a double whammy as we have already had dry conditions because of a lack of rain - then the winds dry things out further.”