Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly house-hunting in NYC

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex currently live in an £11.2million ($14.7 million) mansion in California, which they bought with a £7.3million ($9.5 million) mortgage.

They have lived in the 7.4-acre compound in the celebrity enclave of Montecito since July 2020, four months after stepping down as senior royals and leaving Britain. Pictured: Markle inside their Montecito mansion in 2021. 

But local gossip in New York suggests the Sussexes are now looking at also renting a home near the UN headquarters, which is located at Midtown East in Manhattan.

The couple visited the UN in a rare public appearance in September last year, and were photographed meeting with Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed (pictured). The trio spoke about issues ranging from climate action to women’s economic empowerment and mental wellbeing to youth engagement and vaccine equity.

Harry and Meghan were in New York at the time to attend Global Citizen Live (pictured), a concert at Central Park that called on leaders to adopt a vaccine equity policy.

The couple were pictured in front of the UN logo alongside Ms Mohammed, and in another photograph, Meghan could be seen greeting her with an elbow (pictured). Ms Mohammed, the former environment minister for Nigeria, shared the first picture in a tweet at the time, saying: ‘In conversation with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Sharing how to engage on issues we care about deeply: climate action, women’s economic empowerment, mental wellbeing, youth engagement and vaccine equity.’

During the same trip last September, they also met with Linda Thomas-Greenfield (pictured), the United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden.

She tweeted a picture of their ‘wonderful’ meeting, and said they had an ‘important discussion of Covid, racial justice and raising mental health awareness.’ Harry and Meghan’s visit was their first public appearance together since the birth of their daughter, Lilibet, in June 2021, and their first major public trip post-Megxit.

Meghan is said to harbor ambitions of a UN role like her friend Amal Clooney, who worked there as counsel to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Pictured: Amal with her husband, George Clooney, at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018.

Two weeks ago, the Duchess of Sussex revealed a trailer for her new Spotify podcast, which vows to investigate the ‘labels that try to hold women back’. The seven-second clip promoting the Archetypes podcast was released as part of the global music giant’s estimated $24 million (£18million) deal with Meghan and Harry. Pictured: The United Nations headquarters is in the Midtown East area of Manhattan in New York City. 

The royal couple’s production company Archewell Audio has not yet released a date for episode one, although it is expected to air sometime in the summer. The couple are also still working with Spotify despite controversy over the alleged spread of Covid jab misinformation by US comic Joe Rogan on his hit podcast.

They had faced pressure to walk away from their deal with the firm after Joni Mitchell and Neil Young demanded their songs be removed amid the vaccine row. The couple responded by saying they had continued to express concerns to Spotify to ‘ensure changes’ are made to ‘address this public health crisis’.

Harry and Meghan signed their big money deal with Spotify in December 2020. The former Suits actress is presenter and an executive producer of the new series. MailOnline contacted a spokesman for the Sussexes for comment on Friday morning.