Meghan Markle, Harry’s Montecito neigbours reveal truth about Sussexes

However, Meghan and Harry would surely be happy to be shunned by them as they were also keen on privacy when they relocated to California in 2020, and the Montecito residents have seemingly heeded their request, according to a new report.

“I think they’re basically ignored, and if people come across them that’s fine, but I don’t think the locals seek them out in any way,” said a local bookstore owner Mary Sheldon in conversation with Express.

“I have seen black SUVs on my road,” she said, noting that the couple live less than a mile away from her. “Other than that, no impact at all.”

The book seller also shared her thoughts on Harry’s memoir, Spare, saying: “I sat and read it, and I got as far as him going to school, and I thought, ‘This is a well written book and it’s interesting.'”

Did she finish it? “I read as much as I wanted to,” she tells Daily Express US, adding that the book did “not particularly” do well at her store, selling about 20 copies since it was released in January 2023.

Sheldon is one of many longtime residents in the sleepy town of 8,638 people, located right next to Santa Barbara. She notes that the town is home to many famous residents, including daytime TV giants Ellen Degeneres, 66, and Oprah Winfrey, 70.

“She’s a regular customer,” she said of Winfrey. “She does her own shopping. She doesn’t send her people to do it.”

Commenting on royals, she said, “I don’t think they do their own shopping. I’ve never seen them. that or they don’t read books or they shop on Amazon, I don’t know what they do.”

Several Montecito residents, in interviews with Daily Express US, also expressed a similar casual attitude about the royals in their backyard.

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