How new details on Harry & Meg’s Montecito life shed light on latest security chaos… & their ‘awkward party behaviour’

IT’S no surprise Harry and Meghan this week switched their children’s school just two days in due to “security concerns” getting them there and back. Back in the wealthy Californian suburb of Montecito – two hours north of Los Angeles – the couple were never without armed bodyguards who were said to “accompany them everywhere”, locals told The Sun. Meghan and Harry reportedly had bodyguards “accompany them everywhere” in the US Credit: Alamy The Sussexes were said to even have security guards watching them while dining at posh A-lister restaurants Credit: LIGHTWORKERS Neighbours told us after we visited the enclave following their shock move back to the UK last month that they would even make the gun-toting security sit in restaurants with them. One waiter at Clark’s Oyster Bar – where we revealed Harry and Meghan slurped on oysters with pals as a last hurrah before their sudden departure – had their security sit at the bar watching them. He said: “Harry and Meghan would always get a table at the back. “The security would just sit there and watch them mixed in at the bar with regular folk. “Stars like Oprah Winfrey and Cameron Diaz come in here and they never have any security.” A billionaire punter – who bragged that he had a private jet – added: “The thing with Montecito is that it’s a very low-key place. “Nobody cares about who you are because everybody is somebody. “That’s why people like to live here. “It’s very quiet and very private. “There’s a proper community. “And unfortunately they rubbed people the wrong way because they refused to be part of that community if you like. “Their security was one of the things that annoyed people about them.” Locals in the Santa Barbara County said the pair “kept themselves to themselves” and would barely speak to anyone. One woman, who lives several doors down from their former £11million home in the Riven Rock estate, said: “No one really knew them. “I know someone who is high up in television and she said they were very odd as they would attend these big TV parties but not speak to anyone. “They would just stand in the corner, silent. “They relied heavily on their bodyguards who we would see fill their car with petrol or even pick up take-out for them. “They even had them at the school here which the parents didn’t like.” We know the pair used their bodyguards to carry out checks on the first UK school over the summer holidays but were not able to properly test out the school run until the first day of term. Their children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, were removed from the school after two days because the private security guards raised concerns about the traffic. They will now join another one in the area. Meghan and Harry blamed traffic concerns. Rush hour and a “pinch point” caused by parked cars meant the journey of their security convoy took up to an hour instead of the expected 35 minutes. Their new school is said not to come with the same traffic issues. The move was revealed hours after it emerged that both Harry and Meghan will get their first government Ravec security review since 2020, when they moved to the sun-soaked enclave. The Duke has been campaigning for years for taxpayers to fund armed police bodyguards, which were removed when he and Meghan stepped down as working royals the same year. The couple shocked Montecitans when they left the “paradise neighbourhood” to go back to the UK, causing the community to wildly speculate about the reason. In the local bookshop, one woman told The Sun that they had heard it was Meghan who had pushed for the move while another said it was Harry as he wanted his kids to attend a “better school”. Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, were removed from their new school after two days because security were concerned about traffic Credit: Instagram Prince Harry hid behind a hat and shades while taking his black Labrador Pula for a beach walk near his home in Santa Barbara Credit: The Mega Agency Mary O’Conor, 62, who has lived in the area her whole life, mused: “I think Harry wanted his kids to have the same type of education he did and the same type of experiences. “I think they moved because the children are now old enough to do so and they are of perfect ages to start a proper education and Britain has some of the best schools. “What’s so weird though is the rapid departure. “The question that keeps being asked here is: Why did they move so suddenly?” At the weekend we revealed that Harry and Meghan fled their home “almost overnight” after being told Archie and Lilibet had been accepted into the first UK school. Locals said the couple didn’t inform the school and “practically left the next day”. Montecito estate agents are also keen to know why the couple left and if they will return. They said leaving a home that size empty just to keep it as a part-time residence “will be very expensive and just doesn’t happen”. They estimated it is costing the pair £38,000 a month in gardeners, pool guys and maintenance. Montecito estate agent David Encell added: “It’s not a normal amount of money that you could easily justify. “And if you’re not here and not using it, that seems like a lot of money for them to spend. “They should sell it. US Editor Scarlet Howes outside of the private road in Montecito that leads to the home of Harry and Meghan – now empty Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner The couple are now a long way from the Pacific Ocean Credit: Instagram “They’ll get nearly £30 million and once it’s sold you’re done with it whereas renting it out to tenants may end up costing them more because they might not necessarily take good care of it. “Or they could get a bad tenant who doesn’t move out.” Local Mary added: “There’s so much talk about who is going to be the new neighbours. “We always got our news about Harry and Meghan the same as everyone else as no one was that friendly with them, but it would be a lie to say we didn’t read about them as they were our neighbours.” That sentiment was echoed repeatedly. One neighbour, who lives directly opposite their estate, said through an intercom when buzzed: “I don’t want to get involved in any Harry and Meghan drama.” While, another, a few houses down, said: “All I have to say is that they have lovely neighbours. “Lovely, lovely, neighbours.”