Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Have Lost A Fortune

 

Not long after marrying Prince Harry, Meghan found herself sitting in the grounds of Kensington Palace, watching The Little Mermaid.

"I went, 'Oh my God she falls in love with the prince and because of that she loses her voice," said The Duchess in her interview earlier this year with Oprah Winfrey.

According to Meghan's shock, freedom also comes with a price.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle finally have what they wanted, a life away from the monarchy. But, stepping aside from their royal duties and the family comes with a steep price. This seems to have happened to both a personal sense (Harry's relationship with his family has taken a turn for the worst), and in a literal sense.

Next month marks a staple moment in the Sussex calendar, one full year of Harry having to pay for himself.

In mid-August, 2020, the couple traded in their 'borrowed' Beverly Hills mansion and moved to Montecito, just two hours drive from north of Los Angeles.

They paid $19.6 million for their 3 hectare home, complete with two saunas, and a Japanese tea house situated right next to a koi pond. 

This purchase marked a milestone for the two, being the first house either of them has ever owned, and alongside that, it was the first time Prince Harry actually had to pay for a permanent roof over his head. 

In his first 35 years, his living expenses were paid by the royal family, then by the army, and then by the royal family again.

Moving to the USA has brought a realistic view on the worry about money between the two. To be honest, what did they expect with multiple saunas, a Japanese tea house, a koi pond, household staff, aides, mortgage payments, cars and security? 

It was reported that the two paid around a $7 million deposit for their home, which would then calculate to around $5.9 million each year in household expenses, $641,000 in mortgage payments, $4.4 million for security, as well as $400,000 for cooks, gardeners and housekeepers.

The fact that Prince Harry actually has to pay for these things has come as a rude shock, claiming to Oprah that Prince Charles (his father), "literally cut me off financially."

In June, Clarence House published their financial accounts for the last year, and it clearly shows that Prince Charles had continued to support the couple financially up until the American summer of 2020.

A Clarence Hosue spokesperson has said that Prince Charles "had allocated a substantial sum" in order to assist the couple with their "transition."

Prior to the exit from the monarchy, Prince Charles had financed Harry, his brother Prince William and their families with $10.3 million annually. This estimated to be around $5 million each, which explains why it was such a shock to Harry when he started footing the bill.

For 35 years, Harry's protection was paid by the British Home Office, and it didn't occur to the couple that the government wouldn't continue to pay millions of dollars for their protection once they went out on their own.

"I never thought that I would have my security removed, because I was born into this position," Harry said during the Oprah interview.

If you include Frogmore Cottage, and the renovations to the property the couple had chosen over the Kensigton Palace residence made specifically available to them, it equalled roughly $4.4 million of Sovereign Grant money, (the percentage of Crown Estate profits the British government allows the royal family to pay for their upkeep).

So, including all of these assets and costs, their total sum equals $22.45 million dollars. An amount the couple is going to have to find every year to keep up their lifestyle.

Now, Harry and Meghan have signed huge contracts with Netflix and Spotify, yet that doesn't mean any of that amount will fall right into their laps as soon as they are ready for it.

It was made clear that the most likely route is that the couple would earn a retainer between $1.85 and $3.7 million, earning more depending on what content they decide they want to produce.

The couple's neighbour Katy Perry might sing "Money can't buy us happiness" and it seems like the couple should've listened to what could happen but leaving behind the monarchy.