Princess Diana was planning Malibu move with her sons like Harry and Meghan just before her death
Prince Harry almost moved to Malibu two decades before he met Meghan Markle. Princess Diana had been planning a move to the swank, oceanside hamlet at the time of her death with sons William and Harry and then-boyfriend Dodi Fayed. Princess Diana liked Malibu because it allowed her and the boys to escape the royal […]
Prince Harry almost moved to Malibu two decades before he met Meghan Markle.
Princess Diana had been planning a move to the swank, oceanside hamlet at the time of her death with sons William and Harry and then-boyfriend Dodi Fayed.
Princess Diana liked Malibu because it allowed her and the boys to escape the royal spotlight, which is the very same reason her son is said to be looking at properties in the area.
He and Meghan announced their infamous Megxit just after the holidays, which they had spent in Canada with baby Archie.
The decision by Harry and Meghan has left the royal family in a state of shock, with Queen Elizabeth said to have taken the news the hardest when she learned of her grandson’s plans to step away from his royal duties.
It has also strained the relationship of Harry and his brother William, which had already been fraught for some time according to reports.
That pressure was part of the reason Diana sought to move over 5,000 miles away, and Harry has said that it is very much with his mother in mind that he made this decision for his family.
“A lovely house … saw all the plans for it. It was going to be in Malibu,” Diana’s butler Paul Burrell said in a 2007 interview with ABC News.
“She said, ‘This is our new life, just won’t it be great, think of the lifestyle the boys — nobody’s judgmental here in America, you don’t have the class system, you don’t have the establishment.”‘
It was the longtime home of Julie Andrews and husband Blake Peters that Dodi ultimately purchased just months before he and Diana lost their lives in Paris.
Andrews’ home sat on five acres of land in Malibu, and had five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a guest house, swimming pool, tennis court, private beach and 130 feet of ocean frontage.
The Oscar-winning actress sold the property in 1992 to an individual who also snapped up some of the surrounding plots of land for an additional $11 million.
That individual razed the home and built a Tuscan-style villa, while filling the property with large gardens.
Once completed, it was sold again, this time to Diana’s soon-to-be boyfriend Dodi.
He actually purchased the home for himself and fiancee Kelly Fisher according to the former model, but then made it a love nest for Diana and himself after jilting his bride-to-be.
Kelly would later sue Dodi, claiming that he convinced her to leave behind her $500,000-a-year career to be with him, only to then leave her for Diana.
She dropped that suit just days after his death, but kept the $225,000 engagement ring she was gifted by the Harrods heir.
Harry and his new bride are also now looking to purchase in Malibu, and as The Sun first reported last week were eyeing a multimillion property just a few miles south from the estate he almost moved into during his childhood.
Among the homes the two are said to be considering is a recently completed $7million Malibu mansion that comes with a pool, tennis court and five bedrooms for the couple and baby Archie.
The property is just a stone’s throw from the beach and the homes of Hollywood heavyweights Robert Downey Jr, Mel Gibson, Dick Van Dyke and Caitlyn Jenner.
It was Caitlyn who first broke the news that Meghan and Harry were looking at properties in Malibu while appearing on Loose Women.
Caitlyn also threw her support behind Meghan during her appearance on the program.
She said: “It was a big shock to her, she’s probably had enough. Good for them, we’ll see how it goes.”
“I heard they were looking for a house in Malibu. It must have been tough. Everyone deserves to be happy.”
The house offers the couple a good deal of privacy as it is tucked away from the main strip in Malibu, where the two could get dinner at Nobu or pick up food at the local Whole Foods.
It was previously owned by Baywatch star David Charvet and his wife, Brooke Burke.
News of the potential move comes after Harry and Meghan made an appearance in California at Stanford last Tuesday – just days after appearing in Miami at an event hosted by JP Morgan.
The couple flew down that morning on an Alaska Air flight, an eyewitness told The Sun, and were greeted at the school by the university’s president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne.
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Today reported how Meghan and Harry were apparently brainstorming with members of the Stanford community as they plan to launch a new charity following the couple’s now infamous Megxit.
Stanford is also close to Apple headquarters, where Prince Harry had been developing a new series with Oprah Winfrey.
The docuseries, which focuses on mental health, was announced early last year – but there has been little news about the project since then.
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