Inside the Montecito ranch rented for Prince Harry’s bombshell interviews

Prince Harry sat down with ITV’s Tom Bradby and CBS News’ Anderson Cooper ahead of the launch of his book Spare next week, and trailers for each will be released today.

And it appears the interviews with the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex took place at the luxurious San Ysidro Ranch, where guests can stay for £2,219 a night.

The resort in Montecito, once home to Winston Churchill, who visited a writers’ retreat, as well as John F. and Jackie Kennedy, was also where Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, Variety The magazine photo shoot and interview were filmed.

An hour’s drive from Los Angeles, in the heart of California’s wine country, the Hollywood hideaway has played host to Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The ranch has a fascinating history; In the 19th century it was the residence of Franciscan monks, but since the 1930s it has been a hotel.

There are 41 cottages surrounding a large, well-tended garden, which features olive trees and lavender, and each property comes equipped with a fireplace, a private patio, and extras like heated floors in bathrooms.

The 1,450-square-foot ranch is filled with antiques and Persian rugs, and features patio seating that overlooks the lush green garden.

The express reports that each cabin also contains a four-poster bed and an outdoor waterfall shower.

And the most luxurious cottage in the complex is Warner Cottage, which contains a 33-foot pool and rents for $10,000 a night. It is unclear if Warner Cottage was used for the Duke’s interviews or for the Duchess’s photo shoot.

Eagle-eyed fans might also have been drawn to the lavish drapes that dressed the French doors, which were gilt and intricately embroidered with burgundy and green floral patterns.

Located in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, there are nearly 17 miles of hiking trails.

The hotel’s Stonehouse restaurant draws celebrities to its tables in droves, and Oprah Winfrey is said to be a fan.

Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh were married there in 1940, and John Huston wrote The African Queen in one of the cottages during a three-month stay.

Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow were married in the Willow Suite in 2003, while Julia Roberts and her husband Danny Moder spent their first night there after their wedding.

In Meghan’s article in Variety, the San Ysidro ranch was described as: “An old low-key luxury resort of simple bungalows tucked into the side of a mountain overlooking the Pacific coast.”

It was also described as “unpretentious” despite being largely occupied by wealthy individuals.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry has said he “would like my father and brother back” by launching a publicity campaign for his memoir.

Speaking to ITV’s Tom Bradby in a clip where no questions can be heard, Harry says it “never had to be this way” and refers to “escape and plantation” before adding “I want a family, not an institution.”

He also says, in an apparent reference to the royals, “they feel it’s best to keep us the villains in some way” and that they have “shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile.”

Filmed in California, where the duke now lives, ITV said its show Harry: The Interview will go into “unprecedented depth and detail” about his life inside and outside the royal family.

The 38-year-old royal also spoke with American television personality Anderson Cooper for his popular talk show, 60 Minutes.

A trailer shows Cooper asking why Harry hadn’t communicated his grievances against the Royal Family in private instead of going public, to which the royal responds: “Every time I’ve tried to do it in private there have been briefings, leaks and stories plantations against me and my wife.

“The family motto is never complain and never explain, it’s just a motto.”

He adds: “They (Buckingham Palace) will feed or have a conversation with a correspondent, and that correspondent will literally spoon up information and write the story, and in the background, they will say that they have approached Buckingham Palace for comment.

“But the whole story is commented on by Buckingham Palace.

“So when we’ve been told for the last six years, ‘we can’t put out a statement to protect you,’ but you do it for other family members, there comes a point where silence is betrayal. ‘

The clips appear to confirm reports that the Duke will use his memories to reveal details about disagreements between him and his brother, the 40-year-old Prince of Wales.

It comes after the duke claimed in his Netflix documentary that William broke a promise he made to him never to leak stories or inform each other after witnessing the fallout of such actions in his father’s office.

Bradby, a former royal correspondent for ITV, is a friend of the Sussexes and previously interviewed them for a documentary about their tour of Africa in 2019.

She first met Harry when she worked with him on a documentary about Lesotho when the prince was on his sabbatical after leaving Eton.

The journalist attended his 2018 wedding to Meghan.

Meanwhile, Cooper is said to have earned Harry’s trust through his stance on issues close to his heart, such as mental health.

The 55-year-old, who is also a star on CNN, has campaigned for better mental health and hosts a podcast called All There Is. He has talked about losing his brother Carter to suicide.

The 23-year-old died when he fell from the family’s 14th-floor Manhattan apartment in 1988. Cooper also has war experience, having reported from Afghanistan, where Harry completed two tours of duty.

A television source said: ‘Mr Cooper has earned Harry’s trust. This would be a blow to Cooper and fits well with Harry’s campaign to promote mental health. It is a Sunday prime time show featuring foreign leaders and presidents. It is the one that all politicians and decision makers look at.’

Recently, 60 Minutes featured exclusive interviews with US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.

In 2020, Cooper interviewed Afua Hirsch, the British author and former Guardian journalist who appears on the Sussexes’ Netflix show, and who delivered a damning verdict on the Commonwealth as “Empire 2.0.”

In the conversation with Cooper after Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping down from their royal duties, Hirsch described the royal family as “Ground Zero for Britain’s troubled history of colonialism and race.”

She added that she was “always concerned for Meghan Markle’s well-being” when she joined the royal family. Seeming sympathetic to the couple’s plight, Cooper told Hirsch: “The notion of being harassed by the press is going to have such strange and strange resonances for Prince Harry given what happened to his mother.”

Cooper also joked about receiving a greeting from Prince Harry during his wedding to Meghan in May 2018. He told viewers: “I was at the royal wedding, covering it for CNN.”

“Our correspondent Max Foster said: ‘You should say hello to Harry because Harry is going to look up at the bright lights and I bet he’s going to say hello to you. The carriage turns. I start to say hello. Harry looks up at the tower, we make eye contact and he waves. Almost dead.’

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