Moving van arrives at empty Frogmore Cottage in Windsor after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave

A royal moving van was spotted heading to Frogmore Cottage today, as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly handing over their Windsor home to Princess Eugenie.

The Sussexes’ belongings were said to have been moved off the property under cover of darkness and sent to California where they now live in a £ 11million house after stepping down from the royal family.

Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, are in the process of moving into the five-bedroom house on the Queen’s Berkshire Estate – and an Abels moving van was seen heading for the property today.

The Suffolk-based company has a Royal Warrant to the Queen for removals and storage services, having first worked for the Royal Household in 1981. The tenure was originally awarded in 1988 and renewed for last time in 2016.

Frogmore was given to Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, by the Queen in April 2018, a month before their wedding.

Among the cottage accessories is a £ 5,000 designer bath produced by luxury firm William Holland, a supplier to the Soho House chain, which is made of shiny copper and took 120 hours of work to be hand-beaten .

The couple spent £ 2.4million from the Sovereign Grant on renovations – an expenditure of public money that became controversial after leaving the royal family in March.

But the Sussexes refunded taxpayers in full for the renovation in September. At the time, Harry and Meghan insisted that Frogmore would continue to be their UK residence.

Now Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie, 30, and Mr Brooksbank, 34, would find their home there, ahead of the birth of their expected first child in the New Year.

A source told The Sun last week: ‘Moving vans rose up in the dead of night and emptied the chalet. They certainly didn’t want to be seen.

Emptying their house and handing over the keys is a pretty strong sign that Harry and Meghan have no plans to return. It appears they are doing what is needed as they plan to extend their stay in the United States perhaps permanently.

Suspicions were reportedly raised after lights were spotted inside the Grade II listed chalet about two weeks ago. Staff were reportedly dispatched to prepare the chalet for its new tenants.

The source continued: ‘Frogmore was tailored to the tastes of Meghan and Harry with her son Archie in mind so this is the perfect place for a couple to raise a baby.

“ He has the advantage of being around the corner from his parents and, of course, the Queen. Harry and Meghan didn’t want Frogmore for some reason, but Jack and Eugenie are delighted.

Princess Eugenie, the youngest daughter of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and Mr Brooksbank lived at Ivy Cottage in Kensington Palace.

The couple will now be much closer to the Princess’s parents, who live four miles away at the Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park, and less than a mile from Windsor Castle, where the Queen goes on lockdown with Prince Philip.

Frogmore had fallen into disrepair before Harry and Meghan moved in. The builders worked around the clock for six months to be able to move in before their son Archie was born in May 2019.

The couple had repaid the money for the redevelopment in monthly installments before announcing that they had fully repaid the sovereign grant.

The Sussexes recently bought a nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom, £ 11million mansion in Montecito, Santa Barbara, with a £ 7.5million mortgage.

Buckingham Palace said it could not say whether Princess Eugenie and her husband would pay rent on the Crown Estate property – and if so, to whom – or how long the deal was to last.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: ‘Frogmore Cottage is the private residence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and as such any arrangement is theirs. ”