Their night out was a glamorous surprise: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dazzled as they made an unannounced appearance at the Bob Marley: One Love movie premiere in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 23.
Hours later — as photos of the royal couple walking the red carpet made headlines — an organized band of thieves burglarized an estate just five minutes away from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s $14.65 million, 7.4-acre compound back in Montecito, California.
The news rattled the couple, a source exclusively tells In Touch, especially after the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning to the royals: In recent days, there had been a rash of burglaries in the Montecito area, and the couple’s mansion could be hit next. Criminals are “targeting safes” and breaking in between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Officer Rachel Zick further cautioned that “in these burglaries, criminals target unoccupied residences that back up to open spaces such as golf courses, as well as creeks, streams or the ocean.”