It has now been two years since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their intention to withdraw from the British monarchy. On January 8, 2020, to everyone’s surprise (including from the royal family), the Duke and Duchess of Sussex affirmed on Instagram their plan to become financially independent, between North America and the United Kingdom, in the hope of a more peaceful life away from media pressure.
The break – nicknamed “Megxit“- may have been made in pain at the family level, but the goal has been achieved: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are financially independent. At the time of negotiations with the royal family at the beginning of 2020, he had been agreed that Prince Charles would help them while they were on their own.On the other hand, the Sussexes had to use their savings to pay off the work on their Frogmore Cottage (their home in Windsor), partly funded by the taxpayer’s money (to the tune of 2.5 million euros). It was also necessary to settle the question of the financing of their security, which caused so much ink to flow when they started their new life, of first in Canada, then in California, from March 2020.
At the time of their installation on the West Coast, the couple relied on the provisional help of Prince Charles and on his personal fortune: that of Meghan Markle, thanks to his fees from the time when she was an actress (1.6 million euros according to Forbes), and that of Prince Harry, coming mainly from the inheritance of Diana (about 8.3 million euros). “I have what my mother left me and without it we wouldn’t have been able to leave, he confided during his famous TV interview with Oprah Winfrey and Meghan Markle, in March 2021. All I wanted was to have enough money for our safety and to protect my family from need.. “
Shortly after settling in California, the Sussexes quickly capitalized on their notoriety and signed several lucrative contracts to secure their future: in June 2020 with the Harry Walker agency, to give paid conferences, then with Netflix in September 2020, to play the star producers for five years and this, for 100 million dollars (about 84 million euros). In December 2020, the Sussexes teamed up with Spotify to produce audio programs (a three-year contract that would have brought in between 12 and 15 million euros). In March 2021, Prince Harry then joined a San Francisco-based start-up dedicated to mental health. For her part, his wife invested money in an ethical coffee brand based in California.
Conferences, podcasts, series and documentaries, books …
In the coming months, the couple are also expected to collect cute checks from the Penguin Random House. The first volume of Prince Harry’s memoirs is expected in bookstores by the end of 2022. A second book should follow, as well as a well-being guide signed by Meghan Markle. The couple are said to have received an advance of $ 20 million and although they intend to donate $ 1.5 million to the Sentebale organization (founded by Prince Harry in Lesotho in 2006), they still have a comfortable cushion.
At least that was needed to finance their Archewell foundation and their luxurious Californian villa located in the Montecito district, near Santa Barbara, where they live discreetly with their children: Archie and Lilibet (2 years and 7 months). Residence for which they spent 12.3 million euros, but which they would already consider leaving …