Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan have secretly purchased a family home in Santa Barbara

The pair opted for a "quiet community" where they hope they can give their son "as normal a life as possible".

A source told the New York Post's Page Six Column, "Harry and Meghan have been quietly living in their own home in Santa Barbara since early July.

"They are not houseguests of Oprah or anyone else, they bought this home themselves. This is where they want to continue their lives after leaving the UK.

"This is the first home either of them has ever owned. It has been a very special time for them as a couple and as a family -- to have complete privacy for six weeks since they moved in.

"They intend to put down their roots in this house and the quiet community, which has considerable privacy. This is where they want to bring Archie up, where they hope he can have as normal a life as possible."

Harry, 35, and Meghan, 39, have also enjoyed being close to the former 'Suits' actress' mother Doria Ragland in Los Angeles.

The sourced continued: "Harry and Meghan never intended to make Los Angeles their home. It was a good place for them to be upon their arrival in the US to be close to Meghan's mom [who lives in LA]."

Details about the property such as the price and location are being kept private by the couple to maintain their privacy.

The insider added: "They have thought about this carefully and researched it well. This is the place where they plan to be happy, make good friends and bring up Archie, giving him the chance to play with other children his age."

A spokesperson for the couple told the gossip column: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into their family home in July of this year. They have settled into the quiet privacy of their community since their arrival and hope that this will be respected for their neighbours, as well as for them as a family."

The pair buying their first proper marital home comes after they sued a photographer over pictures of their son Archie taken at Tyler's home.

Their lawsuit stated that the unnamed photographer "crossed a red line for any parent" and "unsolicited photographs of a young child in the privacy of his own home are very much unlawful".

The couple alleged the photographer was trying to sell the pictures by claiming they were taken in Malibu but they insisted that Archie had not been out in public since they moved to LA.

They even put up a large mesh fence around the property to protect against telephoto lenses.

However, they claimed that drones had been used to try to capture images of their son.

They are suing for invasion of privacy and also want the photographer to hand over all copies of the pictures taken.