UNTIL two years ago, it was a place absolutely none of us had heard of, let alone could locate.
Now, thanks to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, there’s no escaping Montecito.
Whether they’re pontificating via Zoom from one of the 50-odd rooms of their £11million mansion or sitting in a neighbour’s back garden chatting to Oprah, this uber-exclusive neighbourhood is to celebrity what Windsor is to royalty.
So what’s the star-studded enclave, on the edge of Santa Barbara, really like?
And, crucially, what do Meghan and Harry actually do all day?
Previous reports have described the pair as “super-reclusive”, suggesting they do little but sit within the seven-acre grounds of their 16-bathroom home, and think of new ways to be cross. Or woke.
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Actually, says the owner of their nearby organic deli, this isn’t fair.
“They are pretty community-minded,” he says. “They’re not exactly wandering around town all day, every day, but they do make an effort to mingle and be as normal as possible
“Well, as normal as it’s possible to be with security in golf buggies driving around the perimeter of your home.
Harry doesn’t nip into the local hardware store or pharmacy for bits and pieces — presumably he has ‘people’ for that — but they both make an effort to go out for dinner and chat to locals.”
In fact, we can reveal that two weeks ago the couple enjoyed a “date night” at the town’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Sushi/Bar.
The intimate space serves only ten diners at one time, offering a £109, 17-course Omakase tasting menu including otoro, kurodai, bluefin tessin, albacore tuna and scallops.
Alas, Harry doesn’t eat fish. Instead he was granted special permission to bring in his own £23 steak from a restaurant called Lucky’s down the road. Which was lucky for him.
Julian, one of the waiters, explains: “Harry said he didn’t eat fish so we let him bring in his own takeaway meal and eat it while Meghan had her sushi.
“She went for the 17 courses, and I think they drank saki. They seemed really nice and were friendly.”
Carnivore Harry is a regular at Lucky’s steakhouse, and the couple sat on an outdoor table on a double date with showbiz pals David Foster and Katherine McPhee.
Another waiter, who did not wish to be named, adds: “They come here quite a bit, but we were asked not to discuss them or talk about them.
We were also told not to talk to them, and that photos were not allowed. So they don’t get bothered whenever they come here.”
The couple also enjoy low-key evenings and £12 cocktails at Honor Bar — where neighbours Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are also regulars. Oprah, not so much.
‘They make an effort to chat to locals’
They have been seen at the exclusive San Ysidro Ranch, having dinner al fresco in the grounds of the five-star hotel where Harry Styles went public with new girlfriend Olivia Wilde. Katy Perry is also a fan.
For day-to-day groceries, locals say Meghan is a regular at the Montecito Country Mart. Morrisons it is not.
She also nips into the high-end, family-owned deli, Pierre Lafond, for fresh flowers and baked treats.
The owner of Montecito’s Village Cheese And Wine, a tiny gourmet store selling a range of, er, cheese and wine (and some specially imported coffees) reveals that Meghan penned a beautifully written note thanking him for a hamper of treats he sent the couple for Christmas when they moved in.
In the card, which he showed The Celeb Report, Meghan wrote on gold-embossed “M” notepaper, with a crown on top of it: “Thank you for the generous Christmas basket, and for all of the work you do in this very special community.
“We appreciate your kindness and very warm welcome. Cheers to 2021!”, and signed it ‘Meghan and family’
Owner Patrick added: “It was such a thoughtful, special gesture, and no one knows she did it. We didn’t expect it at all, and we’re just glad she enjoyed her treats.
“She’s brought loads to this community, and I think everyone is happy she’s here.”
And so they should be. House prices have rocketed by 12 per cent since the couple moved there in spring 2020, with the average pad now costing £3.9million.
While Harry was recently embroiled in a court case over who should pay for security when the couple are in the UK, the Duke, it seems, is more than happy to pay for his own security closer to home.
Indeed, opposite the driveway to their stunning residence is a sign, bearing the name of a private security company, above the warm, welcoming words, in capital letters: “ARMED RESPONSE”.
Turning away sharpish from their driveway — as an Amazon Prime van stopped to drop off two parcels — I bump into a neighbour casually dressed in a huge, pastel pink fur coat and white bikini.
“We leave Harry and Meghan be,” she snarls, as I approach, gingerly.
“There are loads of famous people around here so no one bats an eyelid about two more rich people.”
The sycamore tree-lined coastal road, a five-minute drive from their house, is stunning.
It is, however, an utter nightmare at rush-hour which, in Los Angeles, lasts from 3.30pm to 7pm, and sees cars jammed bumper to bumper.
And it is something not even Harry and Meghan can avoid.
The commute to their Archewell studios in central LA is about two and a half hours — which possibly explains why they have not been spotted there much.
Pilates and yoga devotee Meghan, 40, also shuns the town’s wellness studios.
But then again, why would she work out in public when the couple have use of a sprawling home gym, complete with Reformer machine, weights and state-of-the-art cardio kit?
Plus a swimming pool and wet room in which to cool off after.
The couple also have a home cinema, meaning they don’t have to dig into the pick ’n’ mix with the hoi polloi.
While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex aren’t exactly famed for their relentless work ethic, Harry has been more at home of late, working on his forthcoming memoirs.
While the Prince, who left Eton with two A-levels, hasn’t been entrusted with the bones of the book, his Pulitzer Prize-winning ghostwriter JR Moehringer is understood to have been a regular visitor chez Harry of late.
‘Archie toddled along with them very sweetly’
“He and Harry have been beavering away, leaving no stone unturned,” says a publishing insider — words the Royal Family would be advised to look away from.
While all staff at Penguin Random House have signed watertight non-disclosure agreements, insiders describe it as “dynamite”
Happily it’s not all work, no play for our industrious prince.
Harry has been spotted riding his bike along the coastal path, wearing baggy shorts, sports sunglasses and a collared T-shirt (you can take the Sloane out of Chelsea . . . ).
He cycles past a hippie shack selling hemp coffees and algae smoothies but, according to the owner, has never been tempted by its wares.
And even though he is dad to youngsters Archie and Lilibet, he still manages to find the time each morning to meditate for 45 minutes.
While Archie, who is three in May, has been spotted holding Meghan and Harry’s hand on occasion — “he toddled along between them, very sweetly” — there have been precious few sightings of little Lilibet.
Meghan and Harry are able to enjoy a far more casual lifestyle in Montecito — named one of the 50 best places to travel in 2019 — and the Duchess is regularly spotted out in flip-flops.
There are 15 different hiking trails, all with stunning views of Santa Barbara and the Pacific, and the couple have been seen clambering along many of them, dressed in baseball caps and trainers.
Meghan usually wears lux gym leggings and a T-shirt, as two minders walk ten metres away.
While one would have thought the ex-royals’ £112million deal with Netflix would run them ragged, thankfully they appear to have dictated things at their own pace.
Which, with the best will in the world, is best described as “slow”.
Only two series are believed to be in the pipeline — Heart Of Invictus, about his (brilliant) initiative for wounded soldiers, and an animated show called Pearl, about the adventures of a young girl “inspired by influential women in history”.
Which definitely sounds like more of a Meghan project.
Despite their less-than-hectic schedules, the duo have taken on a new £30-an-hour dog walker for their pooches — rescue pup Pula and Guy the beagle.
Says one local, Kellie: “Harry sometimes goes cycling down along the coast and my friend saw them hiking last year with their dogs.
“But they’ve now got a dog walker — who seems really nice — so we don’t really see them on any of the trails much now.
“Unless maybe they go at sunrise, which is a possibility.”
It is, of course, a possibility largely thanks to the area’s nigh-on perfect, year-round climate.
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And with a multitude of activities on offer — from surfing and hiking to horse riding (Archie has apparently begun taking lessons), it’s little wonder Harry ditched the UK.
It’s a wonderful place but, Harry, you’re welcome to stay put.
