MEGHAN and Harry’s move to exclusive Montecito forced up property prices, dragged locals into the glare of the media – and lengthened lines at Starbucks, actor Rob Lowe joked.
Lowe, 57, quipped that he blames the royal couple for the huge changes to his previously “sleepy” home – and says the LA community “will never be the same”.
Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the latest updates
The Parks and Recreation star has counted the pair as neighbours since they moved to the US last year.
But he said their relocation has transformed his neighbourhood, sent property prices sky-high and resulted in a huge increase in visitors to the area.
It comes as:
- The Royal Family are ‘struggling to understand’ what Prince Harry hopes to achieve with tell-all interviews, an insider says
- The Queen is ‘deeply upset’ over her grandson’s ‘very personal’ criticisms
- Charles is furious that ‘lurid lies’ from Martin Bashir’s Princess Diana interview took 27 years to be corrected
- Harry volunteered to have EMDR trauma therapy filmed for Oprah series as he unleashed ‘truth bombs’ on Royals
- An expert says reconciliation between Harry and Charles will be difficult – because the royals may fear anything said will simply be repeated “for commercial gain”
Speaking to E! News, Rob said: “They definitely have brought a lot of attention to my sleepy little town.
“Let me tell you something, once the royals move into your neighbourhood, the neighbourhood is never going to be the same.
“Now that the royals are here, the good news is property values go up, and the bad news is the line is longer at Starbucks.”
The actor distanced himself from reports that he’s a close friend of the Duke and Duchess.
“I saw Harry once driving,” he said.
“When Oprah moved in, that began the sort of resurgence of Montecito.”
He also rejected reports their bombshell interview with Oprah, which aired in March, was filmed at his home.
“It’s so funny,” Lowe said.
“Everybody thinks the interview is shot at my house and then my friend Ted Sarandos who runs Netflix, everybody thought they shot it at his house.
“Here’s my thing and I have no idea. I think they just plain old shot it at Oprah’s.
“I swear to you, and they just said it was a mystery location.”
Since the Oprah interview aired just 11 weeks ago, Harry has made a series of public appearances.
He has also appeared in a documentary on mental health, The Me You Can’t See, during which he accused his family of showing “total neglect” for his mental health woes – and claimed Charles made him “suffer”.
The bombshell allegations are said to have “dismayed” the Royal Family.
Harry accused The Firm of smearing Meghan Markle, who wept into her pillow every night, and said his wife didn’t give into her suicidal thoughts because of how “unfair” it would have been to him.
But Charles came in for particular criticism from his youngest son – with Harry saying his father did little to help him through his struggles.
“My father used to say to me when I was younger, he used to say to both William and I, ‘Well, it was like that for me, so it’s going to be like that for you’,” he said.
