Earlier this week, we reported on rumors that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are planning to vacate their home in Montecito, California in favor of even swankier digs.

Yes, it seems the reports that Meghan and Harry are going broke have clearly been greatly exaggerated.

Not only are these two getting by just fine, they’re looking to upgrade!

Of course, one of the things that the Sussexes are looking for in their new home is greater privacy — and in order to find that, they’ll need to enter a more secluded community.

They’ve got their eye on one such enclave, but not surprisingly, the current residents are not thrilled by the idea that their quiet little town might soon become a target for paparazzi.

The town in question is Hope Ranch, California, a place so private that only three roads are open to the public.

According to a new report from the New York Post, Harry and Meghan have their eye on a house in Hope Ranch, but the couple’s future neighbors wish they’d look elsewhere.

“The people that made the calls to me don’t want change and they don’t want all the hoopla,” says a local realtor who spoke with the Post on condition of anonymity.

“People are not happy, that’s the word around town. They want them to stay in Montecito and not be drawing that kind of attention to Hope Ranch,” says a different realtor.

The second source says that “locals are worried” about the possibility of Harry and Meghan turning their town into “an extension of Montecito.”

Harry and Meghan purchased their current home — a $14.5 million mansion — in Montecito in 2021.

And shortly thereafter, reports of disruptions in the quiet beachside community began to surface.

Irate residents alleged that the Sussexes’ security team had taken to shutting down roads and hiking trails in order to protect the couple’s privacy.

“It is really not right for streets to be closed down and things to be closed down. And that’s been very disruptive to a small beach community that’s used to being private,” an employee of one local shop told the Post.

“People pay a lot of money to live here, you know.”

No doubt the folks who shelled out eight figures for sprawling estates in Hope Ranch are looking at the Montecito situation with great concern these days.

“Introducing some very high profile people [like Harry and Meghan] would totally change the area. That’s definitely not something that [locals] want and I think [the homeowners’ association] would fight hard against it,” one former resident of Hope Ranch tells the Post.

“The heads of the HOA are careful about keeping it that way and preserving privacy — that’s the No. 1 appeal of Hope Ranch. We’re the only ones in the area with a private beach.”

But whether the HOA folks like it or not, it sounds like they’ll soon have royal neighbors.

Witnesses say they’ve already seek Meghan walking the town’s private beach.

And while HOAs might carry a lot of clout in our nation’s poshest communities, they’re no match for a couple of wealthy royals.

So the fine folks of Hope Ranch might want to just go ahead and embrace the fact that they’ll soon be playing host to a duke and a duchess!

How many California towns can make that claim?

Meghan Markle & Prince Harry Face Rejection From Residents of Posh Santa Barbara … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.