‘No One Cares’: Meghan and Harry’s Montecito Exit Leaves Behind a Shockingly Different Picture of Their American Dream

Three lonely tins of Meghan Markle’s $15 flower sprinkles now sit on an oak table at Godmothers bookstore.

Once, they were part of an elaborate display dedicated to the Duchess’s As Ever brand. Today, they are almost all that remains.

Just three tins.

The grand signage has disappeared. The carefully curated display is gone. The eucalyptus sprigs and polished presentation have vanished.

And in a quiet upstairs room at the Montecito bookstore, barely three miles from the $14.6million mansion Meghan and Prince Harry have now reportedly left behind, the tiny remnants of the Duchess’s once heavily promoted Californian business empire offer a striking snapshot of how dramatically the mood appears to have changed.

I visited Godmothers late last year, when the atmosphere surrounding Meghan’s brand could hardly have been more different.

The Duchess had announced that the store would become the first ‘bricks and mortar’ retailer to carry As Ever, selling her jams, herbal teas, candles and much-discussed flower sprinkles.

An entire upstairs room had been devoted to the collection, with a sign declaring it had been ‘curated by the Duchess herself’.

The products were arranged across oak tables and surrounded by eucalyptus, while the flower sprinkles were displayed almost like precious objects in a silver bowl.

It was a miniature version of the Meghan Markle brand: polished, meticulously styled and seemingly made for Instagram.

Now, almost everything has disappeared.

When I asked a shop assistant whether the store still stocked As Ever products, she appeared unfamiliar with the name.

‘I don’t think I know that company?’ she said.

After I explained that it was Meghan Markle’s brand, her response was blunt:

‘Oh, we don’t stock it any more.’

There was no sign of Harry’s memoir, Spare, either.

From Hollywood excitement to indifference

The change at Godmothers comes as Meghan and Harry prepare for a very different chapter after spending six years in California.

When the Sussexes arrived in Montecito in July 2020, there was genuine excitement around their move.

The pandemic was raging, yet Hollywood was buzzing about the prospect of having ‘genuine royals’ living nearby. There was even talk of a bidding war among studios desperate to secure the couple.

Netflix ultimately won that race, reportedly paying the Sussexes $100million over five years.

The expectation was enormous.

They were going to build an independent empire in America, with one streaming executive telling me at the time that they would ‘probably conquer the world’.

Six years later, the atmosphere could scarcely be more different.

The paparazzi who once gathered outside the Sussexes’ Chateau of Riven Rock home have disappeared.

And some locals now describe their departure with strikingly little emotion.

One neighbour, who gave her name only as Susan, claimed Meghan and Harry never truly became part of the local community.

‘You’d see him out on his electric bike and she’d drive past in a Range Rover but it was always “swish” and you’d miss them,’ she said.

Susan recalled leaving a bottle of wine at their gate as a welcome gesture, only for it to be returned unopened the following day.

‘I’m not sure they ever wanted to hang out with anyone who wasn’t a billionaire or famous or both,’ she said.

Another unnamed neighbour described their departure as happening ‘with a whimper, not a bang’.

‘There were no moving trucks, no parties, nothing at all. One day they were here and the next they were back in England.’

‘The buzz has disappeared’

Robert Eringer, an author and long-time Montecito resident, was similarly dismissive when asked about the Sussexes leaving.

‘Personally it matters not one iota to me whether they’re in Montecito or in Britain,’ he said.

‘I’m out and about in Montecito a lot and never saw them.’

He added: ‘I doubt anyone would have noticed they’d left if it hadn’t been reported in the news but, since it was, the general impression is, good riddance.’

A friend living in nearby Santa Barbara offered an equally bleak assessment of the couple’s standing in the area.

‘The buzz surrounding them when they arrived has long since disappeared,’ the friend said.

‘Americans love success and there has been precious little of that. Their victim narrative became tiresome. America, and particularly this little slice of California, fell out of love with them.’

For a couple whose public lives have attracted enormous attention, perhaps the most striking detail is therefore not the criticism — but the apparent lack of interest.

One local says she ‘wishes them well’

Not everyone in Montecito has a negative view of the Sussexes.

Wendy Foster, who has run her eponymous boutique for decades, became one of Meghan’s favourite local retailers. The Duchess was frequently seen carrying one of Foster’s bags and meeting friends at nearby Pierre LaFond, whose regular customers include Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Foster said Meghan had always been polite when visiting her stores.

But she also understood why the couple might want to return to Britain.

‘I understand why she and Prince Harry want to go home,’ she said.

‘Over here they, and their children, don’t mean much in terms of status. In Britain their titles mean something. I’m sure they want to spend more time with his father.’

Foster also expressed hope that the Sussex children would become closer to their royal cousins.

‘I hope the children get to know their cousins,’ she said.

‘Their children have American accents so it makes sense that Harry in particular would want them to go to school in England. They’ll have far more social standing there than here.’

Her conclusion was considerably kinder:

‘I wish them well.’

What happens to the $40million mansion?

The Sussexes’ departure also leaves a number of questions hanging over their California estate.

The couple paid approximately $14.65million for their 18,600-square-foot property in June 2020 after purchasing it from a Russian businessman.

Local estate agents now believe the home could be worth around $40million.

Montecito estate agent Daniel Encell said the property could potentially generate more than $100,000 a month if rented.

‘It’s one of the best pieces of land on the Riven Rock estate,’ Encell said, pointing to its relatively large amount of usable flat land.

He believes the Sussexes could command a significant premium because of the property’s royal association.

‘Their name and being royalty has publicity value, which would bring in a lot more interest,’ he said.

The alternative could be a quiet off-market sale.

One person familiar with the property claimed local agents were already receiving calls from potential buyers following reports of the Sussexes’ move.

‘The word on the street is they are going to sell off-market,’ the person said.

‘It will be quietly sold with no fuss or publicity. Meghan won’t want people snooping around in her closets.’

What about Harry’s polo ponies?

There has also been speculation about what will happen to Harry’s connection with the Santa Barbara polo scene.

David Sigman, the British general manager of the Santa Barbara Polo Club, said the Prince never actually owned his own polo ponies.

Harry played at the club until around two or three years ago before moving to private fields belonging to a local billionaire.

‘He never had his own polo ponies, he rented or borrowed them instead,’ Sigman explained.

His reported equine benefactor is Sarah Siegel-Magness, a billionaire heiress and Hollywood producer associated with the Oscar-winning film Precious.

A source claimed that Harry and Meghan became known for forming relationships with people who could assist them, describing Siegel-Magness as one example because of her wealth and access to polo ponies.

The couple’s reported return to Britain has also prompted questions about their private jet.

There were reports that the Bombardier Global Express they used belonged to cosmetics mogul Victoria Jackson, one of Meghan’s close friends and a co-owner of Godmothers.

However, public records show the aircraft is owned by charter company Planet Nine Private Air.

Meghan’s chickens are staying behind

Not everything has apparently made the journey back across the Atlantic.

Meghan’s famous rescue chickens are reportedly still at the Montecito estate, where they are being cared for at ‘Archie’s Chick Inn’.

The huge property also requires staff to maintain it, including at least one full-time housekeeper, gardeners and a pool worker, according to the report.

‘People think they upped sticks and left but when you have an estate that size it requires upkeep,’ one person familiar with the home said.

‘That’s an expensive undertaking. They still have a mortgage and property taxes.’

So while the Sussexes may be turning their attention back towards Britain, their California chapter is far from being as simple as closing the front door and walking away.

There is a mansion to maintain, a potentially enormous property sale to consider and a business brand whose once-prominent local presence now appears remarkably diminished.

And then there is Montecito itself.

At the Country Mart, one clothing-store assistant offered perhaps the bluntest verdict of all when asked about the Duke and Duchess leaving.

‘I don’t think people care about the duke and duchess leaving,’ she said.

Asked whether she expected a ‘Harry & Meghan open-top bus tour’ of their old favourite haunts, she laughed.

‘No-one cares. They came and they’ve gone. We’re indifferent.’

For a couple who arrived in California amid talk of conquering Hollywood and building a global empire, that may be the most uncomfortable chapter of their Montecito story yet.