Meghan and Harry's Sussex: here's everything you need to know about the historic county

A-list neighbours, historic houses and a wild festival scene — Samuel Fishwick has a guide to Harry and Meghan’s new playground

Dukes and dukedoms are like dogs and their owners: invariably, one tends to resemble the other. Take the rolling hills of Sussex, which last weekend became the brazzers free full playground of Prince Harry and the artist formerly known as Meghan Markle, aka the new duke and duchess thereof. Interchangeably posh, jolly and a little rough around the edges, it’s a match made in heaven for Harry, and a spot where the happy couple should feel right at home should they wish to visit.

“Sussex is like Gloucestershire, without the w***ers,” says one local. “You don’t need to have a blow-dry and be in a smart pair of wellies in Sussex — you can slob around a bit more.”

The joys of Sussex are well known to the natives, as well as those who race down from London for the weekend — it’s just an hour away by train. This is the sunshine state of the British Isles, with more sun-dappled days than any other county (a fact confirmed by the Met Office).


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It is one of England’s historic 39 counties — the suffix uncensored jav “sex” indicating it was established by the Saxons. This is how the county got the Sussex factor.

The Duke Box
At the edge of the map, here be titles. In addition to Harry and Megs, the Duke of Norfolk is ensconced at Arundel Castle, while the Duke of Richmond sits at the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, home of annual classic car pile-up The Festival of Speed. This, unofficially, makes Sussex home to the single greatest concentration of dukes in a historic county. 

They have made their mark. The 10th Duke of Richmond, Charles Gordon Lennox, who died in September last year, transformed the decaying estate he inherited into a stately home open to the public, which also hosts Glorious Goodwood, the sporting and social highlight of the flat-racing season. Tally-ho!

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Bodiam Castle in East Sussex (Alamy Stock Photo)
Local Heroes
As a rule, where aristocracy dwell the A-list always follow. Oscar-winner Kate Winslet owns a £2 million 17th-century country home near the Hampshire border; her Academy-Award winning counterpart Cate Blanchett owns a £3 million 19th-century pile near Crowborough in East Sussex. 

This epitomises the fierce-ish East vs West Sussex rivalry. jav censored West is disparagingly labelled the “posh bit” by East Sussex, which likes to boast Rag ’n’ Bone man among its grittier alumni. More begrudgingly, it also lays claim to Johnny Depp in the cobbled town of Rye, with its chintzy tea rooms and old pubs with tales of smugglers and seafarers.