Nott Cogg - 'frat house'

[50shadesofneigh]

The father-of-two wrote: 'I was excited to welcome Meg to my home, but also embarrassed. Nott Cott was no palace. Nott Cott was palace adjacent - that was the best you could say for it.'
As he watched Meghan walk up the garden path to his home, Prince Harry says he was 'relieved' that she 'gave no indication of disillusionment'.
However, that changed when the duchess stepped inside the cottage - where the ceilings are 'dolls' house low'.
He added: 'Then she said something about a frat house.'
Prince Harry says he had never noticed how 'shabby' the furniture in his home was before - with the then Suits actress appearing particularly unimpressed with his beanbag chair which matched his brown sofa.
After Meghan moved in, Prince Harry recalls how the couple purchased some Ikea lights and ordered a second-hand settee from sofa.com, which they'd bought with his future wife's credit card.

Is this petulant and ungrateful spun for a laugh?

Why is none of this Harold’s responsibility? Why couldn’t he have redecorated or bought decent furniture? Why is always presented as both of them being victims of some kind? Was he totally incapable? Harry was a single man, what more did he want or need at that point? He was clearly satisfied with NC right up into Meghan told him not to be. Chelsea and Cressida must have visited him there and had no issue with it. How Harry’s previous lack of interest in interior design/soft furnishings can be transformed into some kind of attack on the pair of them is just ludicrous.

He wasn't the one complaining about it to Oprah and making that complaint public, for sympathy. There seem to be a lot of his grievances which fall into that category becoming his responsibility or his bad when they were never a problem pre 2016.

It's pathetic isn't it, the need to paint themselves as victims constantly.

He comes across as foolish, with no imagination of his own, easily led.

So once again...

On /around their marriage

• K&W had Nott Cott in London
• H&M had Nott Cott in London

• K&W had a rented house in Anglesey
• H&M had a rented house in the Cotswolds

• Work started on renovating a large KP apartment for W&K
• Work started on renovating a large KP apartment for H&M

• Work started on renovation of a country house on a royal estate for W&K (Anmer)
• Work started on renovation of a country house on a royal estate for H&M (Frogmore)

Anmer is nicer than Frogmore, although Frogmore is a better location so swings and roundabouts.

Not seeing the hardship

Could not be more equal, could it!

When you write a diary every day and base a book/interview series upon those daily niggles, they can read as being really petty. It is inadvisable to base a story of your life upon daily diary entries handed to a ghost writer as he wont necessarily know what pissed you off the most. When you read the entries yourself, you feel that wound re-open so you may also be unable to advise him.

Nope. They never moved in to KP because they fell out with everyone (for whatever reason) and decided to live in Windsor, then they left the country before the timescale where W&K had even moved in to their big apartment.

I had a bf who was in a flat in the most beautiful classic mansion block in a very expensive part of London but it was given to him for free because it had no working loo! Sparodci plumbing...a sink but no where to cook!
Kettle and toaster.

It didn't really occur to me who had designed this beautiful building or the cost of the square footage!

I agree that it probably was less comfortable than her previous home. However had Harry been interested in cinema rooms etc. he had the means to arrange that if he wanted.

As has been pointed out, American shocked by British plumbing/scruffy stately home is an old trope.

For me its only when Harry starts comparing them to the Cambridges that it starts to wear a bit thin, because he only seems able to compare in one direction.

Is there any evidence that NC was anything other than fully functioning though?

I can understand Meghan not getting it, thinking "wtf this place is tiny and why the hell is there a bean bag and a clothes rail". That in itself, fair enough, culture difference. I work with Americans and Canadians, they think our houses are teeny. I also work with folk in Hong Kong, they'd mostly consider Nott Cott a mansion. Everything is relative.

But Harry, knowing Britain, the history, that his brother had lived there, that his family always give bigger accomodation when you get married...why the hell did he not explain the culture and traditions to her rather than letting her believe he was the poor wee prince in the servant's cottage?

Nottingham Cottage can not be sold on the open market though so an open market valuation is useless.
Andrew's Lodge is reportedly worth £30 million in the open market for his lease but he got it for £1 million.

Question:

How should multi-millionaires from one of the UK's richest families demonstrate an understanding that 14.5 million of their fellow citizens are living in poverty in the UK, including 4.3 million children. Living in poverty involves struggling to eat decently and stay warm?

You are right. Harry and Meghan initially lived at Nottingham Cottage since 2017. Then in 2019 they signed a 2 year lease in a house in the Cotswolds until they moved into Frogmore House.

Given that two working people in their 30s could in almost all cases reasonably be expected to furnish a house satisfactorily between them - even if that’s two supermarket workers on minimum wage going to the second hand shops and Argos - it’s staggering for H and M to expect anyone to furnish a house for them or make out it’s a credit card job when surely the whole house could be furnished from top to bottom from any high street shop for a few thousand pounds. No need for ikea or second hand stuff for them. Meghan herself surely had enough money for a quick John Lewis spree. Anything other than that must surely be by choice.

I talked about Meghan's Toronto home because a poster said Nottingham Cottage was a step up from her tiny Toronto flat. That was totally inaccurate.

They were working for the Royal Family. No idea how much money they were getting.

So What! The point is that it was an extremely valuable home, "worth" way more than most people can dream of and way more than what she previously lived in.
It's an approximate comparison.

But then you know that

We are repeatedly told Meghan was extremely successful and wealthy in her own right. Why was the purchase of a sofa such a big deal?

I seem to remember that in the run up to the bust up with Cressida there was ill feeling on Cressida's part because he wanted her to accompany him to some society wedding in ?USA/Bahamas but expected her to pay her way.

I can imagine a few AIBU's on this but the implication was he was tight and no gentleman.

And I refuse to believe he couldn't afford to pay for a half decent sofa himself. For Meghan it was quite a jump from coughing up for ikea furniture on her credit card to letting rip on a £50k engagement dress. How did those conversations go I wonder?

The story would have been better if he'd told it from the point of view that he had been a bit of a slob, then the frat house comment and the whole thing could have been a humorous anecdote. Instead of bleating about second hard sofas on credit cards while W and K live in luxury.

Do you think Harry couldn't afford to furnish the place until Meghan came along?

She knew that the sofa was a sunk cost. She would never be able to take it with her or resell it for much. The dresses and jewelry on the other hand 😑

Yup, slobbish bloke pad plus American vs brit culture shock - totally believable, kind of funny

My big brother has a bigger house than me...nah, get a grip

Nottingham Cottage can not be sold on the open market though so an open market valuation is useless.

Well yes, it's a hypothetical valuation. But theoretically, NC would be worth considerably more than the standard Toronto suburban home you seem to think is such a 'step up'.

And surely the fact that is not available on the open market says something about its value. This isn't just some cookie cutter home on some anonymous suburban street. It's a home of historic value in a royal palace.

But I suspect if Meghan had lived in a basement hovel, you'd still be saying how superior it was to a royal property, so probably no point continuing the discussion.

It is not available on the open market because it is on the Royal Estate. If it was not on the Royal Estate it would be less desirable although still expensive.