What is the truth about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's funding after the royal exit?
According to newly released royal expenditure reports, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle received money from Prince Charles after stepping down as working royals in January 2020.
Prince Charles financially supported Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after the couple stepped down as working members of the British royal family, according to financial records released on June 24.
Clarence House, which serves as the office for the Prince of Wales, released their financial accounts covering expenses made from April 1, 2020 to March 31 of this year. In the report, Prince Charles paid sons Prince William and Harry, along with their families, a total of $6.3 million for their "official expenditure." However, the exact sum that each family member received out of the total remains unclear.
During the couple's groundbreaking interview earlier this year with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry explained that he was "cut off financially" by his father once they broke from the royal family. The two announced that they would be stepping back from their duties in January 2020 and officially ceased being working members in March 2020, just before the new fiscal financial year began.
However, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told Vanity Fair that it was "inaccurate to suggest a contradiction."
"The Duke's comments during the Oprah interview were in reference to the first quarter of the fiscal reporting period in the U.K., which starts annually in April," the rep said. "This is the same date that the ‘transitional year' of the Sandringham agreement began and is aligned with the timeline that Clarence House referenced."
The financial records also revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan made a $3.3. million rent payment for Frogmore Cottage—the home where they resided with 2-year-son Archie—in September 2020.
Although the payment was made long after the pair relocated to California in March 2020, the residence reportedly remains licensed to the couple until March 31, 2022.
A spokesperson from Clarence House also confirmed to the BBC that financial support from Prince Charles for the royal couple has ceased since 2020. "That funding ceased in the summer of last year," he said. "The couple are now financially independent."
