Sharon Stone reveals what Harry and Meghan are like as neighbours in resurfaced interview
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Sharon Stone’s past comments about living next to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have resurfaced amid new complaints from the couple’s neighbours.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been accused of ruining the quiet and “bringing more attention” to the wealthy town of Montecito, California by some of their neighbours.
The comments were published as part of a Vanity Fair article titled “American Hustle”. Published on Friday (17 January), the piece offered insight into what life was like “inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s big business ambitions, five years after their royal exit”.
After stepping down from royal duties in 2020, Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito where, according to several people who spoke with Vanity Fairthey have rubbed locals up the wrong way.
According to The Timesthe Duke and Duchess of Sussex are understood to have dismissed the allegations made against them. Sources close to the couple have described the article as “distressing”.
One Montecito neighbour said of the royal couple: “I still think they’re the most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet.
“They moved away from England to get away from the scrutiny of the press, and all they do is try and get in the press in the United States.”
In the wake of the neighbour’s complaints, friends of the couple pointed to recent comments made by Sharon Stone who previously painted a very different picture of what it was like to live next to the Sussexs.
In 2020, the Casino star told Hello! magazine: “They’re a part of our community, they’ve become a giving, caring, participating part of our community. They’re not here to be like ‘Would you like to kiss my butt?’”
Elsewhere in the Vanity Fair article, a source who worked in media projects claimed that Meghan’s relationships with her employees were rocky.
“She would be warm and effusive at the beginning, engendering an atmosphere of professional camaraderie,” the article stated.
“When something went poorly, often due to Meghan and Harry’s own demands– such as a teaser for Archetypes being released five months before the show premiered and before there was any tape to promote – Meghan would become cold and withholding toward the person she perceived to be responsible.”
Others, however, such as producer Jane Marie who collaborated with the couple while they developed audio projects at Archewell had a different experience with the Duchess, calling her a “lovely, genuine person”.
The Vanity Fair article spoke about the couple’s various business ventures, stating: “Leaving the royal family has brought tests for the couple – legal, financial, reputational, personal and practical. Going from divinely chosen (or at least chosen by someone else who was divinely chosen) members of a 1,200-year-old institution to start-up founders in exile is a tough adjustment.”
One unnamed person who worked with the couple on their Spotify deal said: “The thing you’re escaping is the reason you’re compelling.”
They added that the Sussexes “wanted a big theme [to their podcast] that would explain the world, but they had no ideas”.
According to The Timessources close to Harry and Meghan said that previous employees had gone on record in the past to dispute the claims made in the article.
They declined to be interviewed for the article. The Independent has contacted a representative of the Sussexes for comment.
The couple also attracted criticism recently after they were branded “disaster tourists” in search of a a “photo op” when they were pictured consoling victims of the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires.
In a post shared on X (Twitter), Arrested Development star Jason Bateman took issue with the pair’s appearance in Pasadena, writing: “Meghan Markle and Harry are no better than ambulance chasers.
“What a repulsive ‘photo op’ they achieved. They are ‘touring the damage’? Are they politicians now? They don’t live here; they are tourists. Disaster Tourists.”
Bateman lives in the Hollywood Hills, which has been affected by the wildfires.
