Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have left Los Angeles for greener pastures ... in the lush, super-exclusive city of Montecito ... and the Oprah connection seems undeniable.
Montecito realtors with knowledge tell TMZ, the couple went into escrow in July and the deal closed about a week ago. We're told they spent around $10 mil, which got them a lot more house than they'd get in L.A.
It seems Oprah may have helped guide their path. We're told she helped put them in contact with Tyler Perry, who let them live in his Beverly Hills estate while they got their SoCal sea legs.
Oprah, who has a massive, incredible estate in Montecito and clearly loves it, has a connection to Harry ... they co-produced a documentary on mental health.
Montecito is a relatively small, quiet community near Santa Barbara. Interest in living there has exploded since the pandemic hit the U.S. Lots of people from L.A., Dallas and New York are picking up and moving there.
Lots of celebs live in Montecito, including Ellen, Scooter Braun, Dick Wolf, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Stewart, Rob Lowe and many others.
As for Meghan and Harry, we're told they bought a secure, gated estate. These properties have plenty of land ... in some cases up to 50 acres, although most of that is hillside. But, the properties have lots of flat land, so Archie can play away.