{"id":1160178,"date":"2026-08-20T23:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T23:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1160178\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T23:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T23:34:15","slug":"prince-harry-meghan-markle-spending-cash-as-fast-as-it-came-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1160178\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry, Meghan Markle spending cash as fast as it came in"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle\u2019s shocking move back to the UK<\/a> is fueled, at least in part, by them having more money going out\u00a0of their bank accounts\u00a0than coming in, sources tell Page Six.<\/p>\n

The royal\u00a0renegades\u00a0will\u00a0return to\u00a0Harry\u2019s homeland \u2014\u00a0a place Markle has said was really \u201cdamaging\u201d for her <\/a>\u2014 \u00a0before the end of the month, along with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, who are already enrolled in new schools\u00a0there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sure there are a lot of reasons [for the move], but\u00a0I do\u00a0think\u00a0cash is a big one,\u201d said\u00a0one\u00a0insider.<\/p>\n

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, seen earlier this month, were making \u2013 and spending \u2013 millions in the US. The David Foster Foundation via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not out of money,\u201d stressed a source in the know \u2014\u00a0a sentiment echoed by another source as well, who pointed out that Harry has inherited a fortune from various relatives, adding, \u201cThey had more money than most even before Megxit!\u201d<\/p>\n

But, we are told,\u00a0their\u00a0expenses \u2014 including two mortgages on their $14.5 million Montecito, Calif., mansion, plus costs for household staff\u00a0and a vacation home in Portugal\u00a0\u2014 are so enormous that,\u00a0as the insider said,\u00a0\u201cAnything that comes in\u00a0instantly goes out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple, who have yet to announce how long their stay in the UK will be, also\u00a0pay around $3 million a year for security.<\/p>\n

As Page Six has previously reported, funds have been\u00a0so\u00a0tight<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0the Sussexes\u00a0slashed staff. They are now down to four full-time members of staff, apart from their spokespeople. Previously, they are believed to have had around 17-18 staffers.<\/p>\n

The Sussexes bought their mansion in Montecito, Calif. for $14.5 million, and we\u2019re told they don\u2019t plan to sell it or rent it out while they are in the UK. BACKGRID \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n

Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet have already been enrolled in school in the UK ahead of their move later this month. meghan\/Instagram<\/p>\n

With their current costs, they need at least $6 million a year to live in the US, we\u2019re told.<\/p>\n

And, as\u00a0Harry, 41, has been focusing on his philanthropy, Markle, 45, is basically the breadwinner<\/a> in the family.<\/p>\n

Although sales figures are not public, Markle\u2019s\u00a0As Ever lifestyle brand,<\/a> including\u00a0jams, honey and candles, is \u201cdoing well,\u201d the source in the know claimed \u2014\u00a0adding that she will\u00a0continue\u00a0running it\u00a0from Britain.<\/p>\n

She and Harry\u00a0have made more than $100 million from book deals and contracts with Netflix and Spotify.<\/p>\n

Markle has featured Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in her ads for her lifestyle brand, As Ever. Meghan Markle \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

But\u00a0the couple\u00a0now\u00a0face a multi-million dollar legal bill after Harry lost his recent privacy battle <\/a>against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail. He was joined by claimants including Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley.<\/p>\n

A two-day costs hearing took place at the end of\u00a0July, as Associated sought up to \u00a334.5 million ($47 million) in legal fees, but the\u00a0formal written costs judgment remains pending.<\/p>\n

Harry could be liable to pay around $2.6 million.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sources previously told us that Harry does not have that kind of money<\/a> lying around, and Elton\u00a0John,\u00a0who was a close friend of his mother, Princess Diana\u2019s, may step in to financially assist him. Markle is less than thrilled by the verdict and never wanted her husband to embark on the court action in the first places, friends said.<\/p>\n

Harry and his family will be reunited with King Charles, who continues to be treated for cancer. Samir Hussein\/WireImage<\/p>\n

One Hollywood insider wondered Thursday if,\u00a0\u201cOnce their legal bill is handed down, do they get to keep that Montecito house?\u201d<\/p>\n

However, we\u2019re told that, for now, the Sussexes\u00a0do\u00a0<\/strong>not plan to sell or rent their lavish property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0they already made cost-cutting measures\u00a0that included scaling back their Archewell Foundation.<\/p>\n

It is basically shuttered<\/a> after\u00a0the couple\u00a0let nearly all the staff go and has been renamed Archewell Philanthropies, moving to a fiscal sponsorship model that outsourced most administrative operations.<\/p>\n

The UK will be a far world from California, where Archie and Lili are used to going to Disneyland with their parents. Meghan\/ Instagram<\/p>\n

Their US staff will continue to work from America following the Sussexes move, we\u2019re told.<\/p>\n

Harry made $20 million from Penguin Random House for his 2021 memoir, \u201cSpare,\u201d while their $25 million Spotify deal ended after just one season and 12 episodes of Markle\u2019s \u201cArchetypes\u201d podcast \u2014\u00a0prompting Spotify\u00a0exec and podcaster Bill Simmons to label them \u201cgrifters\u201d.<\/p>\n

Harry is believed to have inheritance from his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Harry and Markle signed their Netflix deal back in September 2020 and breathless headlines proclaimed it to be worth $100 million.<\/p>\n

Sources close to the contract, tell us, it was closer to $60 million \u2014 with a large portion set aside for overhead, not their own wallet.<\/p>\n

We are told\u00a0the Netflix\u00a0exclusive\u00a0deal hinged on one project, the\u00a0\u201cHarry and Meghan\u201d\u00a0documentary\u00a0<\/a>in which they\u00a0would spill the beans on their fall-out\u00a0with\u00a0the royals. Everything else was secondary.<\/p>\n

The Sussexes will be in the same country as Harry\u2019s estranged big brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton. Getty Images<\/p>\n

After losing the exclusive deal last September, they have pivoted to a\u00a0\u201cfirst look deal,\u201d\u00a0which means they have to go to Netflix with any ideas first. Netflix, instance,\u00a0\u00a0but the streamer\u00a0refused to buy \u201cCookie Queens,\u201d their\u00a0most recent producing project.<\/p>\n

With a first look deal, the studio or streamer typically pays overhead for the production company, even if zero projects come to fruition. That isn\u2019t cheap, sources said.<\/p>\n

The Sussexes have four projects with Netflix, which remain listed in development<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Archewell Productions is developing film\u00a0adaptations\u00a0of the bestselling military memoir \u201cNo Way Out: The Searing True Story of Men Under Siege\u201d by Major Adam Jowett; and the romance novels\u00a0\u201cThe Wedding Date\u201d by Jasmine Guillory and \u201cMeet Me at the Lake\u201d by Carley Fortune.<\/p>\n

While in the UK in July, Harry and Markle took their kids to Althorp, where their grandmother, Princess Diana is buried. meghan\/Instagram<\/p>\n

There is also a scripted\u00a0polo\u00a0drama centered around the competitive world of professional polo.<\/p>\n

Harry founded Travalyst, an independent, non-profit organization in 2019 and continues to provide his time and advocacy on a pro-bono support basis, according to its website.<\/p>\n

His passion projects are\u00a0the\u00a0Invictus Games\u00a0project\u00a0for wounded soldiers and his philanthropy work. Harry also joined\u00a0the\u00a0Silicon Valley mental-health startup BetterUp in 2021 as chief impact officer, earning a rumored $1 million annual salary.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still listed on\u00a0BetterUp\u2019s\u00a0website, and sources confirmed he still works there.<\/p>\n

Prince William and Kate Middleton \u2013 seen with children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis \u2013 have not spoken to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in more than two years. Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, in August 2024, the Daily Beast reported that, according to some staffers, Harry\u2019s duties with the company were nebulous, and one former employee told the outlet that the prince\u2019s day-to-day responsibilities included \u201czero things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry, who\u00a0received\u00a0$20 million from Penguin Random House for his 2021 memoir \u201cSpare,\u201d has griped about cash in the past<\/p>\n

in 2020, he told Oprah Winfrey\u00a0the royal\u00a0family had \u201cliterally cut me off financially,\u201d\u00a0saying,\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve got what my mum left me, and without that we would not have been able to\u00a0[move to the US].\u201d\u00a0Harry said.<\/p>\n

In her will,\u00a0Princess Diana left both\u00a0Harry and his brother, William,\u00a0\u00a36.5 million ($8.85 million) to be held in trusts until their 30th birthdays, The Telegraph reported. Harry\u2019s trust gathered interest, and he reportedly received \u00a310 million ($13.6 million) <\/a>when he turned 30.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not yet known what security measures are being put in place for Harry and his family. Zak Hussein \/ BACKGRID<\/p>\n

However, Charles\u2019 reps maintained he had funded their move to the US.<\/a><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Sussexes later clarified that Harry\u2019s comments referred specifically to the first quarter of the palace\u2019s fiscal cycle.<\/p>\n

According to official\u00a0Clarence House\u00a0financial reports covering April 2020 through March 2021, Charles allocated a combined \u00a34.5 million (roughly $6.3 million at the time) from\u00a0his\u00a0Duchy of Cornwall to support the households of both Prince William and Prince Harry.<\/p>\n

Harry is also believed to have inheritance from the late Queen Elizabeth II, who had an estimated personal fortune of $500 million, alongside the late Queen Mother.<\/p>\n

Page Six reported Wednesday that\u00a0Harry and Markle are moving to spend more time with King Charles, 77\u00a0 \u2014 who is being treated for cancer \u2014 and other family members and friends.<\/p>\n

As Harry told the BBC<\/a> last May \u201cI don\u2019t know how long my father has left.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prince Harry and Meghan Markle\u2019s shocking move back to the UK is fueled, at least in part, by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1160179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7708],"tags":[30326,518,30818,1281,451,447,532,5105,7710,519,448,6603],"class_list":["post-1160178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-royals","tag-archie-harrison-mountbatten-windsor","tag-king-charles-iii","tag-lilibet-diana-mountbatten-windsor","tag-meghan-markle","tag-netflix","tag-prince-harry","tag-prince-william","tag-royal","tag-royal-families","tag-royal-family","tag-royals","tag-spotify"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117130459030018081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1160178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1160179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1160178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1160178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1160178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}