Inventing Meghan Markle and Prince Harry: How much does the most scandalous (former) royal family spend and earn?

When Prince Harry officially introduced his chosen one to the public six years ago – American actress and model Meghan Markle, the British public did not give her the warmest welcome. However, today’s birthday girl (41 years old) reciprocated: during her several years of royal life, the Duchess of Sussex regularly made tabloid headlines alongside the word “scandal,” and she and her husband totally decided against it two years ago. Leave your royal duties, go to America and no longer report to the palace. Later, in a two-hour television interview with Oprah Winfrey (an unacceptable whim for them beforehand), she’ll talk about how lonely she feels as part of the royal family, and Prince Harry admits he’s afraid to repeat his mother’s story. Princess Diana, who escaped the attention of the press and died tragically, hiding from another paparazzi. So Meghan Markle and Prince Harry abandoned etiquette, formalities and protocol, turning social events and diplomatic trips into a closed life in a mansion near Hollywood. and financing.

Even at the time of Megsit, Forbes estimated the couple’s expenses at around $800,000 (almost 48 million rubles) annually, most of which was financed by Sovereign Grant, alongside Prince Charles, the Duke of Sussex’s father. in simple words, the same “taxpayer money” allocated from the state treasury to serve the royal family. The couple lost those payments by refusing to represent the crown, but they still had about $10 million in the inheritance from Harry’s deceased mother and $2 million from Meghan Markle’s past filming — a total of $ spent to pay off. 3 million to the royal family (previously this money was allocated for the repair of the Frogmore cottage, where the couple lived) and 14.7 million for a mansion in Santa Barbara (then the spouses donated 5 million and paid the remaining 10 as a mortgage). Nine bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, two saunas, a library, an office, a playground, a gym, a home theater and a wine cellar, the habit of luxury living clearly persisted even after moving from the palace.

In fact, it was hard to find a better place for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in their new status than the Hollywood Hills – the media exposure they could afford now paid off in full here. Thus was born a three-year contract with Spotify, in which the Duke and Duchess worked on exclusive podcasts and shows (but so far, it has only seen the light of a holiday special at the end of 2020), a mental health series for Apple TV+, for which they are producers. and a five-year contract with Netflix to produce documentaries, feature films and series, shows and children’s shows. Although there is no official data on deals, experts say, for example, that cooperation with Spotify can cost from $ 15 to $ 18 million, a deal with Netflix – about 150 million. The couple is sure to get a few more rounds of publishing: a year ago, Meghan Markle published a children’s book, The Bench (“The Shop”), which was eventually planned according to the Daily Mail. For publishing Prince Harry’s recently completed scandalous memoirs.

In general, according to tabloids and “sources close to the couple”, denying the status of a royal person, Meghan Markle did not change her usual way of life, after which she even received the nickname Princess Montecito. where the mansion is located. She’s said to spend tens of thousands of dollars on home renovations alone, with another two or three million dollars a year on personal protection bills, according to Forbes, while the Duchess is said to spend about ten thousand dollars a month on her membership in closed elite clubs. at least one of them for polo and tennis). By the way, in the days of royal life, Meghan Markle was accused of wasting, but this is mainly due to her wardrobe and Oscar de la Renta’s $13,000, Carolina Herrera’s 2.1k, Givenchy’s 10,000 and, of course, the Duchess. jewels inherited from Lady Di, whose total cost has reached almost 800,000. By the way, she still wears them, complementing the images of completing the order of 2.5 thousand by Christopher John Rogers or 1.5 thousand by Givenchy.

Resigning from royal powers, the duke and duchess decided to make money from their own lives before Hollywood and did not lose, which means that the prefix “From Meghan Markle and Prince Harry” and any details of their relationship with the palace are conditional Spotify. users and Netflix – views will not be left without funds. But what about nicknames in the soul of Princess Montecito? Dinner at Nobu with an average check of $5,000 or dinner at the Sunset Tower with Michelin star Meghan Markle doesn’t give them much thought.