Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s $3.8M Renovation—and One Horrible Eyesore They’re Adding

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are sparing no expense while renovating their new home, Frogmore Cottage—and the latest reports reveal how much they’re spending, and on what!

According to The Times of London, the royal couple will throw down $3.8 million on Frogmore, which is located on the grounds of Windsor Castle, about 30 miles west of London. That might seem like a lot of money to spend, but keep in mind these former servants’ quarters need a lot of work. For one, they’ll be taking the cottage’s five apartments and merging them into one 10-bedroom home.

And besides, these are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex we’re talking about, so we doubt there’ll be much need for corner-cutting.

“Renovations using the best finishes with top-of-the-line, custom ‘everything’ is $1,000 per square foot,” says Michael Hershkowitz, a contractor and founder of REDOnyc in New York City. “Plus they are including structural work—[$3.8 million] is probably not an unreasonable figure.”

Instead the Queen has given them Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. It’s within the private Home Park and faces the beautiful grounds of Frogmore House. It’s where they had their private evening wedding party & where their gorgeous engagement pictures were shot. pic.twitter.com/uByYVm7pWC

— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) November 23, 2018

So where will that money go? Here’s a rundown of the renovations reportedly in the works.

A green energy unit

Meghan and Harry are planning to install a $60,000 green energy unit. Um, what’s that? It’s a way to provide heat, hot water, and electricity to the home with minimal carbon emissions. After all, this royal couple is passionate about the environment! In fact, two of the seven charities they supported at their wedding were environmental charities, according to Live Kindly.

We don’t have particulars on the exact type of green energy unit, but given the size of the home, one likely possibility cited by experts is a solar water-heating unit, a hybrid system that uses solar water heating along with other low-carbon technologies like a heat pump or a wood boiler, according to Simple Energy Advice. In addition to being environmentally-friendly, these units save on energy costs over time.

A floating floor

A floating floor sounds like the stuff of fairy tales, making it perfect for a royal couple.

The reality is a bit more mundane, though. When it comes to flooring, a “floating floor” refers to an installation method. Floating floors are held in place with tongue and groove joints rather than being nailed or glued to the original flooring, according to Networx.

“There are all sorts of reasons to go with a floating floor,” says California real estate developer Tyler Drew. “Floating floors are often popular with houses that lack cement foundation and rely on wood joists for support.”

A mom/baby yoga studio

Meghan is building a yoga room, with a special springy floor typically found in dance studios, according to the Daily Mail. Hey, only the best for mom and tot. And after all, this baby’s grandmother is a yoga instructor!

Additional fireplaces

Harry and Meghan will also be adding a few grand fireplaces, the Mail reports, a delightfully homey touch. Can’t you easily envision them reading a book to their little one in front of a cozy fire?

More stairs

More stairs will be added to the home, too. Most likely this is to ensure “that security personnel can move through the house without disturbing the occupants,” according to Drew.

In other words: No need for random bump-ins with bodyguards, since they’ll have their own methods of navigating from story to story.

Security

Frogmore Cottage is currently highly accessible, which won’t work for the royal couple. While the exact details of their plans are unknown, one unnamed source told The Times that Frogmore’s security measures will be more “like Fort Knox” by the time they’re done. Experts surmise that these measures will include fencing, road closures, alarms, and video cameras, among other things.

A satellite dish

Plans for the cottage also include what some see as a real eyesore: an outside satellite dish.

It looks like these royals enjoy their TV time! What better way to unwind after a long day of diplomatic duties than tuning in to a rousing rugby match?

Still, the dish has ruffled some locals’ feathers. In the words of one historian interviewed by The Sun, with typical British understatement: “Oh, dear, a satellite dish. It’s not quite right.”

Right or wrong, what the royals want, the royals get.

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