What is the fortune of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan Markle?
Now that they have left their lives as royalty, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are leveraging their celebrity status to grow their money and bolster their fortunes.
Now that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have completed their transition to Hollywood, the couple have started a new unexplored chapter in their lives as they will not return as members of the British royal family, which means a life without diplomatic formalities; without knowing any government security details and without actual sponsorship.
Until last year, Harry's father, the Prince of Wales, covered most of the expenses associated with his royal duties, including staff and travel, through the Duchy of Cornwall, which according to Forbes amounted to about $ 800,000 a year. anus.
The Crown paid more than $ 3 million for the ongoing renovations at Frogmore Cottage, before it became his family's home in the UK. They voluntarily repaid the sum in September with a contribution to the Sovereign Grant.
This has left Harry and Meghan Markle with the progressive new life they want, but also the kind of financial uncertainty akin to that of recent college graduates, who have just left home to embark on the independence of adulthood.
The elder brother and future king, Prince William, covers the expenses with the help of the Duchy of Cornwall, which in the last fiscal year spent about $ 8 million to support the public, charitable and personal activities of Prince Charles and the immediate family of he.
Recall that Prince Harry spoke about his retirement from his official royal duties with his British partner James Corden on The Late Show, a week after Buckingham Palace issued a statement, about him "walking away" from the British royal family.
“It was never walking away; he was taking a step back, ”declared the duke, saying that he decided to leave to escape a relentless press. “We all know what the British press can be like and it was destroying my sanity. This is toxic. So I did what any husband, any father would do; I needed to get my family out of there ”.
His late mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car accident after being chased by paparazzi, made the move possible. With financial support from the Crown abruptly cut off, the relocated royalty has relied heavily on the estimated $ 10 million inheritance Harry received from his late mother.
Contrary to published reports, a representative confirms that he was not a beneficiary of the nearly $ 100 million fortune (the equivalent of € 70 million) left by his great-grandmother.
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle contributed an estimated $ 2 million in after-tax earnings from her work on movies and television shows, most notably the long-running legal drama Suits.
They bought a $ 14.7 million property in Montecito, the coastal enclave of Santa Barbara, California, home to Hollywood celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres and his wife Portia de Rossi, in August 2020.
They paid $ 5 million and now have almost $ 10 million in mortgage. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also reimbursed the Sovereign Grant for the $ 3 million spent to remodel Frogmore, which remains their family home in the UK.
That leaves Prince Harry and Meghan with surprisingly modest savings of about $ 5 million. His estimated net worth, including the equity in his Montecito home, is about $ 10 million.
For her part, Queen Elizabeth II has a net worth of $ 500 million, according to the latest Forbes tally in 2019, while the combined value of the properties of the British Monarch with Crown Estate, the Duchy of Lancaster (an estate trust roots), had an estimated value of $ 25 billion.
The prince and his American wife want to dedicate their lives to helping others and improving the world. "My life will always be about public service, and Meghan signed up for that," Prince Harry told Corden.
However, they have to pay the bills, and thanks to its global fame and prestige, Hollywood is happy to capitalize on, helping to cushion the financial blow.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to produce podcasts and shows that "raise voices that may not be heard" exclusively for the streaming service's 320 million monthly users worldwide.
Spotify's three-year podcasting deal with Prince Harry and Meghan could be worth between $ 15 million and $ 18 million, according to industry sources. It's unknown if the music streaming service has started writing checks: The first podcast, a Christmas special from Archewell Audio, came out in December 2020 and was not part of the deal, which will add about 3.5 million a year to its coffers. after taxes.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had tentatively started walking the Hollywood red carpet long before moving to California. Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey announced in April 2019 that they would be executive producers of a mental health series for Apple TV +.
The series, which was hit by production delays from the pandemic, is an extension of the duke's long-standing work in this area, in which he has candidly shared details of his own experience of losing him. Terms of the deal could not be determined.
Commitments to breaking the silence are another potential avenue for them. Prince Harry spoke at a private JPMorgan summit in Miami in February 2020, which reportedly raised $ 1 million. Last June, they hired the New York-based Harry Walker Agency to get talks. It is the same agency that represents the Obamas, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Stacey Abrams.
Perhaps the biggest potential source of revenue for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is a lucrative $ 100 million, five-year contract with Netflix, signed in September 2020, to produce documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and children's programming.
It is unclear whether Prince Harry and Meghan received a preview of the deal, which will likely contribute generously to their net worth going forward. However, the streaming service acknowledges its subscribers' fascination with the British royal family. Netflix renewed The Crown, a hit drama about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, for a sixth and final season last fall.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also sat down for an extended interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on March 7 on CBS, where Megan has stated that she battled her suicidal thoughts and endured discussions at Buckingham Palace about how dark it could be. her first baby.
