Harry and Meghan: how much money do the Dukes of Sussex have and what do they spend it on?

In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle publicly announced their decision to stop financially depending on the British crown.

“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,” the statement read.

A year later, in the couple’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry revealed that the main reasons they had left their royal roles were a “lack of support and a lack of understanding” from both the media and from the royal family, adding that he stopped receiving any financial support in “the first quarter of 2020.”

Harry’s estate

It is not known exactly what the current net worth of the couple has been since then. However, a tour of its commercial activities and its expenses allow us to obtain an approximation.

When they were active members of royalty, 95% of its annual income came from King Charles III, then Prince of Wales. In the 2018-2019 tax year (their first year of marriage), Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall estate paid out more than £5m to cover the public duties – and some private expenses – of the Sussexes, and the Duke and Queen. Duchess of Cambridge. The sovereign grant, financed by taxpayers, accounted for the remaining 5%.

A senior Clarence House spokesman told the BBC that Harry and Meghan received a “substantial sum” from Carlos to ease their transition to financial independence. However, he confirmed that the couple officially stopped receiving funding in the summer of 2020.

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In September 2020, Business Insider reported that the couple had at least $30 million, citing 2018 estimates from Money.comwhich were made before the couple signed their multi-million dollar deal with Netflix.

Since then, Harry and Meghan have also drawn on the inheritance of Princess Diana’s estate. “I have what my mother left me, and without it, we couldn’t have done this,” Harry told Oprah in March 2021. “She saw it coming, and I certainly felt her presence through this whole process.”

Prince Harry inherited about $10 million from Princess Diana’s estate after her death on August 31, 1997.

Additionally, Harry earned $50,000 a year from his job as a captain in the British Army, in which he served for 10 years.

(You can read: Prince Harry: controversy over details of fighters he killed in Afghanistan)

Meghan Markle’s money

For his part, Meghan Markle, before leaving acting to join the royal family, had an estimated net worth of $5 million. The actress reportedly earned $50,000 for each episode of Suits and a total of $360,000 for her roles in the 2010 films Remember Me and The Candidate, Town & Country magazine reported.

Markle also ran the successful lifestyle blog The Tig, which closed after getting engaged to Harry. He earned about $80,000 a year from endorsements.

Meghan Markle is also the author of The Bench, a children’s book inspired by a poem she wrote for Prince Harry for Father’s Day and published on June 8, 2021.

The narrative spoke of the relationship between a father and a son from a mother’s perspective. The book featured illustrations by Christian Robinson and became a New York Times bestseller within a week of its publication. According to The Sun, Markle received an advance of $700,000 for the post.

(Keep reading: Prince Harry says King Charles was jealous of Meghan and Kate: why?)

Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare, which was released on January 10 of this year, promises to be one of the most popular books of the year. The publisher, Penguin Random House, printed 2.5 million hardcover copies in the United States alone, Forbes reported. The memoirs are number one, based on pre-orders, on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in the United States.

According to Business Insider, Prince Harry has pledged to donate the proceeds from the book to charity. He has already donated $1.5 million to Sentebale, a charity that supports children and young people affected by HIV.

The British newspaper PageSix reported in 2021 that the prince had received a $20 million advance for the book from Penguin Random House.

(Furthermore: Prince Harry Reveals Family Arguments the Day Queen Elizabeth Died)

In September 2020, Markle and Prince Harry founded their own production company and signed a deal with Netflix reportedly valued at $100 million, The New York Times reported. “We will focus on creating content that informs but also gives hope,” the couple said in a statement. “As new parents, doing inspiring family shows is also important to us.”

Their Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan, which premiered on December 8, 2022, follows the couple as they navigate their lives after abandoning royal duties. In the first three episodes of the series, they shared intimate details of their life together and new photos.

Meghan and Harry were also awarded $30 million for a three-year podcast deal with Spotify. The pair did not produce any content for the platform in 2021, reportedly leading Spotify’s producers to step in, Forbes reported. Meghan Markle has since launched her own Spotify podcast, Archetypes.

The couple’s expenses

After retiring from their duties as senior royals, Meghan and Harry repaid the 2.4 million pounds ($2.9 million) it cost to renovate their home, Frogmore Cottage, in Windsor.

The cost of the home renovation was originally paid for by British taxpayers through the Sovereign Grant, according to the BBC. The couple returned the money in 2022 after signing the agreement with Netflix.

They bought their first home together, an estate in Santa Barbara, California, in July 2020 for $14.65 million.

The couple settled in the private and exclusive neighborhood of Montecito in a house of more than 4400 square meters. According to Forbes, they made a $5 million down payment, which left them with a $10 million mortgage.

(Also: Spare, the memoirs of Prince Harry, breaks records on its first day of sales)

On a trip to New York in September 2021, the couple stayed at the swanky Carlyle Hotel, where Princess Diana was a frequent guest. The couple dined at the hotel’s famous Bemelmans bar. According to The Observer, the two-bedroom Royal Suite, where Princess Diana reportedly stayed during her trips to New York, costs $8,000 a night.

Meghan and Harry have also come under fire for their use of private jets to travel. In December 2022, Markle took a private jet for the second time in a week to attend an award show with Prince Harry in New York. She was previously seen boarding a private jet in Indianapolis after appearing at a women’s empowerment event in the city, The Independent reported.

When asked about his family’s use of private jets in 2019, Harry said: “I spend 99% of my life traveling the world by commercial aircraft. Occasionally there has to be an opportunity based on a unique circumstance to ensure my family is safe, and it’s genuinely as simple as that.” And he added: “For me it’s about balance.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also pay for their own security. However, the couple is currently fighting for official police protection during their stay in the UK.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, however that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed while in the UK,” according to a statement published in January 2022. .

Meghan and Harry reportedly received official royal security protection when they traveled to the UK for the funerals of Prince Philip and later Queen Elizabeth II.

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