Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will see their income dwindle and costs soar as their multi-million pound deals dry up, according to...
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will see their income dwindle and costs soar as their multi-million pound deals dry up, according to experts. After striking their ‘Megxit’ deal in 2020, King Charles removed all financial support from the couple, with Harry moaning to Oprah that his dad "literally cut me off financially".
Now a new Channel 5 show called Meghan and Harry: Where Did The Money Go? shines a light on their finances revealing Harry’s surprising inheritances, Meghan’s millions and their staggering Montecito mortgage. The documentary counts the multi-million pound deals the pair have cut to sell their story since leaving The Firm - but it also details their astronomical outgoings.
Royal expert Norman Baker tells the show: “There’s no doubt in my mind that Meghan and Harry’s income is going to decline in the future. It’s declining now. They’ve done the big hits that they could do. They’ve done the big Spotify event, they’ve done the big book, there is nothing else to come, nothing else to sell apart from themselves.”
Upon moving to America the pair splashed out on a family home costing $14.65 million (£11m). However, they also took out a mortgage of $9.5m (£7m), with repayments in the region of $50,000-100,000 (£73,000 - £37,000) a month. Until now, it’s been unheard of for a senior Royal to require a mortgage.
On top of that, Prince Harry has been forced to fund his own security, and he rarely travels anywhere public without a four-car convoy.
Former royal protection officer Simon Morgan explains the costs of specialist protection, saying: “It’s always very difficult to identify the cost in relation to specialist protection, purely because there's a lot of other factors that go into it. You are looking at somewhere in the region of about £3 million a year to protect somebody who stays at home. As soon as they leave the residence, even if they go down to the shops, that could see that cost double or triple and go from £3m to £6m or £9m or £10m, conservatively. Security is not a fashion accessory, it's a need. You've got to address your needs versus your wants.”
To pay for it, the pair famously signed a £100 million five year deal with Netflix in 2020 and a £15 million deal with Spotify. The Spotify deal has already ended with a top exec at the firm dubbing the pair “grifters”, while the Netflix deal is due to end this year, with no renewal in sight.
Before Megxit, the Sussexes were earning £2.3m a year as working Royals, receiving money from the then Prince Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall. But when the pair left The Firm that all stopped, leaving Harry forced to live on the inheritance his mum Diana, Princess of Wales left him in her will. When she died in 1997 Diana left £6.5m to the boys each, which had grown to around £10m when Harry received it upon turning 30. Talking to Oprah, Harry said “Without that, we wouldn't have been able to do this," referring to the family's move to California. Meghan, meanwhile, was thought to be worth around £5million when she met Harry - money built up from her time as an actress on Suits and from her lifestyle brand.
