When Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex moved to California, they were looking to escape the bright spotlight that they lived inside during their time as working royals in the UK and find a more peaceful place to call home. By all accounts, the couple seem to have settled in well to their new home in Montecito, with their two children Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
However, new reports have claimed that their peaceful idyll away from it all may have become disrupted by the world’s richest man: Elon Musk. A controversial figure known for his roles in Tesla, SpaceX, and X – formerly known as Twitter – among other businesses, Musk has been appointed to President-Elect Trump’s cabinet, poised to head up the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) alongside ex-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
The disruption is reported to be caused by SpaceX’s Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) where they boast two launch pads – from which sonic booms are disrupting the neighbouring communities and wildlife – with one fed up local resident taking to an online forum to vent about how much the company’s work was impacting them, per the Express US.
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“Enough! Let’s stop the disruptive arrogant sonic booms at night! This insane frequency and quantity needs regulation, it’s just terrible. I could hear the house creaking,” the resident was reported as saying. SpaceX plans on increasing the number of launches they do each year from 36 to 50, something that has caused alarm amongst locals, with more than 1300 people signing a petition to stop the plan.
“The booms from rocket launches disrupt sleep patterns, elevates stress levels, and erode the overall quality of life for residents living near launch sites. Sensitive wildlife may also be disoriented by these sudden, intense sounds,” the petition reportedly reads.
Another local resident expressed just how much the launches were impacting their quality of life. “The unexpected, sporadic, frequent booms at all hours completely disrupt our household and our peace of mind. Everyone in the house – including all humans and pets – reacts with anxiousness and fear every time.”
The VSFB was established back in 1941 and is located about 60 miles from Meghan and Harry’s home in Montecito, an area beloved by the A-list, with people like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres also calling it home.
SpaceX was founded in 2002 and “designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft” according to the company’s website.
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