As I was reading all of the British tabloids’ unhinged coverage of The Return of the Sussexes, there was a strange detail buried in one of the stories about Frogmore Cottage. That detail: Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank had apparently moved their things out of Frogmore already, in advance of the Sussexes’ visit, and Eugenie and Jack were moving to Portugal. It was surprising, to say the least. So what’s going on there? For years now, Eugenie has worked at a London-based art gallery (Hauser & Wirth) and Jack has worked for Casamigos, the tequila company founded by George Clooney and Rande Gerber. As it turns out, Jack’s Casamigos connections led him to an interesting job in Porugal.

It is billed as offering “the simple luxury of natural European living” an hour south of Lisbon on the picturesque Portuguese coast. And now the luxurious CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club is playing host to royalty after Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank moved to the exclusive resort with their one-year-old son, August. The couple have left Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor home they sublet from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and are now dividing their time between the Atlantic coast club and London.

It comes after Stowe-educated Mr Brooksbank, 36, landed a new job with multimillionaire property tycoon Mike Meldman, who is one of George Clooney’s business partners. But he is now working for Mr Meldman’s Discovery Land Company, which has been developing the 722-acre plot, tucked between the sought-after villages of Comporta and Melides, since 2019. Mr Clooney, his wife Amal and their four-year-old twins Ella and Alexander could soon become neighbours after it was revealed he is planning to buy a plot on the estate in the upmarket Alentejo region.

A source close to the couple confirmed: “Jack is now working for Mike Meldman and they are splitting their time between Portugal and London. It’s a very exciting time for them.”

The first phase of the 300-home development, which also boasts a mile of beachfront, an 18-hole golf course, spa and equestrian centre, is just about to be released and Mr Brookbank is understood to be working on marketing, sales and promotion. Prices start at £3.6 million.

It is thought Eugenie, 32, is continuing to work as a director for the London art gallery Hauser & Wirth on a hybrid basis with the couple staying at Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace when they are in the UK.

[From The Telegraph]

The Telegraph says that while the move has already happened, Jack and Eugenie will be back for the Jubbly. I’ve thought for some time now that Eugenie and Jack would be the next royals/royal-adjacents to move out of Salt Island. I thought there was a chance that they would end up in America, like Harry and Meghan. But Portugal works too. It’s fascinating that we only found out about their move now, on the eve of the Jubbly, when it sounds like it’s been happening for months already. I also wonder if Eugenie was being “pushed out” after she A) went to Montecito to hang out with Harry & Meghan and B) helped arrange for the Sussexes’ private visit with the Queen in April. I would imagine the courtiers were not happy with her at all. And now she works part-time at a London art gallery and spends the rest of her time raising her baby in Portugal? Win-win.

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