Prince Harry is set to inherit millions on his 40th birthday. Here's how he and Meghan Markle make and spend their money.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left their royal roles in 2020 to become "financially independent."
Later that year, they signed a deal with Netflix reportedly worth $100 million.
Prince Harry is set to inherit millions from the Queen Mother when he turns 40 on Sunday.
Prince Harry will reportedly inherit millions from a trust fund set up by the Queen Mother when he turns 40 on Sunday.
However, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the fortune he and his wife, Meghan Markle, have amassed since their decision to become financially independent from the royal family in 2020.
From lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify to both of their book deals, the couple have made a fortune profiting from public interest in their post-royal lives. However, they have also run into controversy over the years.
In June 2023, reports emerged that Markle and Harry had ended their partnership with Spotify and that they would not receive the full $20 million payout from their Spotify deal.
Here's a look at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's combined net worth, and how they spend their money.
In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared their decision to be "financially independent" from the royal family.
"We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen," their January 2020 statement read. "We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honor our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages."
In the couple's interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Prince Harry said the primary reasons for their leaving their royal roles was a "lack of support and lack of understanding" from both the media and the royal family.
Harry told Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 that the royal family cut him off financially after he and Meghan "stepped back" from being senior royals.
Harry said he stopped receiving any financial support from his family in "the first quarter of 2020," the same time that the couple released their statement that they were working toward becoming financially independent.
According to King Charles III's financial report from 2021, the offices of Prince William and Kate Middleton continued to be paid for from His Royal Highness's private income.
A senior Clarence House spokesperson said that Harry and Meghan received a "substantial sum" from Charles to make their transition to financial independence easier.
However, the spokesperson also told the BBC that the couple officially stopped receiving funding in the summer of 2020.
There's no officially recognized figure for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's worth in 2024. Business Insider reported in 2020 that the couple was worth at least $30 million, citing 2018 estimates from Money.com, which were made before the couple inked their Netflix deal.
In February 2021, several months after the Netflix deal was announced, Forbes put their estimated net worth at $10 million.
Harry and Meghan have also relied on inheritance from his mother's estate.
Prince Harry inherited an estimated $10 million from Princess Diana's estate after her death on August 31, 1997, Forbes reported.
"I've got what my mum left me and without that, we wouldn't have been able to do this," Harry told Winfrey in March 2021. "She saw it coming, and I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process."
Harry will also reportedly receive millions from a trust fund when he turns 40 on September 15, 2024.
The Times reported that when Harry turns 40, he will receive £8 million, or about $10.5 million, from a trust fund created by the Queen Mother in 1994 for her great-grandchildren. The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II's mother, died in 2002 at the age of 101.
Prince William also received an inheritance when he turned 40, though it was reportedly less than his brother's because of William's position as heir to the throne and his income from the Duchy of Cornwall. The Times reported that William received £23.6 million from the estate in 2023.
When the fund was created by the Queen Mother, it was believed to be worth about £19 million. All inheritances will be distributed as a tax-free lump sum.
"It was a way in which the Queen Mother could set aside money for when her great-grandchildren were older and a way of passing a slice of her estate down in a tax-efficient way," a spokesperson said of the fund, The Times reported. "It was a way in which some of her estate could be ring-fenced for them."
He earned around $50,000 a year from his job as a captain in the British Army.
Prince Harry served in the Army for 10 years, including service in Afghanistan. Forbes estimated that his salary as a helicopter pilot was between $50,000 and $53,000.
Before she left acting to join the royal family, Meghan Markle had an estimated net worth of $5 million.
Town & Country reported that the actor earned $50,000 for each episode of "Suits" and a combined $360,000 from her roles in the 2010 movies "Remember Me" and "The Candidate."
She also ran the successful lifestyle blog The Tig, which she shut down after getting engaged to Harry.
She made around $80,000 a year from sponsorships and endorsement deals.
Meghan Markle is also a published New York Times bestselling children's book author.
"The Bench," inspired by a Father's Day poem she wrote for Prince Harry, was published on June 8, 2021.
The children's book spoke about the relationship between a father and son from the perspective of a mother. It featured illustrations by Christian Robinson and became a New York Times bestseller within a week of its release.
The Sun reported that Markle potentially got a $700,000 advance for "The Bench."
Prince Harry's autobiography, "Spare," was released in January 2023. He reportedly received a $20 million advance for the book.
The book's title refers to the "spare" title he received as the brother of the heir to the British throne and the fact that he will likely never become king. In the book, Harry opened up about his complicated relationship with William, calling him both his "beloved brother" and "arch nemesis."
The New York Times reported that Harry received a $20 million advance for "Spare" as part of a multi-book deal, according to sources close to the negotiations.
Forbes reported that Harry pledged to donate proceeds from the book's sales to charity and donated $1.5 million to Sentebale, a charity that supports children and young people affected by HIV and AIDS.
In September 2020, Meghan and Prince Harry founded their own production company and signed a deal with Netflix reportedly worth $100 million.
"Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope," the couple said in a statement. "As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us."
Their Netflix documentary series, "Harry & Meghan," which premiered in 2022, follows the couple as they navigate post-royal life. They shared intimate details of their life together and new photographs in the series.
Meghan and Harry also received $30 million for a three-year podcasting deal with Spotify.
Forbes reported that the couple did not produce any content for the platform in 2021, which led Spotify producers to step in. Meghan Markle later released her own Spotify podcast, "Archetypes."
"Archetypes is the podcast where we explore and subvert the labels that try to hold women back. Here's where we dismantle them with action," the podcast's description reads.
However, in June 2023, reports emerged that Meghan and Harry were no longer working with Spotify and that there wouldn't be a second season of "Archetypes" on the platform.
It was also reported that Meghan and Harry would not receive the full $20 million payout from their Spotify deal.
"The podcast will no longer be produced at Spotify as we are mutually parting ways," a spokesperson for Archewell Audio, the couple's production company, told Business Insider.
In February 2024, Meghan announced that she had signed a new partnership with Lemonada Media, Deadline reported.
Meghan announced in March that she would be launching her own lifestyle and alcohol brand, American Riviera Orchard.
The New York Post reported that the brand will sell tableware, drinkware, kitchen linens, jams, marmalade, cookbooks, and other products, according to a trademark application filed by Meghan's lawyers and reviewed by the outlet.
Tatler also reported in June that the first product available for purchase by the public will be rosé wine, adding Meghan to the list of celebrities who have their own alcohol brands.
Harry and Meghan's charity organization Archewell was temporarily deemed "delinquent" in 2024 before the matter was resolved.
On May 13, NBC reported that the Archewell Foundation, the charity the couple founded in 2021, had been found delinquent in California and had to pause fundraising efforts. The state claimed that the organization had not paid its annual registration fees or submitted an annual report.
NBC reported that a source close to Archewell responded that the "group's initial check was lost in the mail" but that they had resubmitted payment and the issue would soon be resolved.
On May 14, NBC reported that the charity was no longer delinquent.
"We have diligently investigated the situation and can confirm that The Archewell Foundation remains fully compliant and in good standing," a spokesman for Archewell said in a statement, NBC reported. "Due payments were made promptly and in accordance with the IRS's processes and procedures. Furthermore, all necessary paperwork had been filed by the Foundation without error or wrongdoing."
After stepping back from their roles as senior royals, Meghan and Harry repaid the £2.4 million, or $2.9 million, cost of renovating their home, Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
The cost of renovating the home was originally paid for by British taxpayers through the Sovereign Grant, according to the BBC. The couple paid back the money in 2022 after signing the deal with Netflix.
They purchased their first home together, an estate in Santa Barbara, California, in July 2020 for $14.65 million.
Vogue reported in 2020 that the pair settled in the private and exclusive neighborhood of Montecito. The publication also reported that, according to property records, the royal couple bought their 14,500-square-foot home for $14.65 million. They put down $5 million, leaving them with a $10 million mortgage, Forbes reported.
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into their family home in July of this year," a spokesperson for the couple told Business Insider in August 2020.
"They have settled into the quiet privacy of their community since their arrival and hope that this will be respected for their neighbors, as well as for them as a family."
Meghan and Harry have received criticism for their use of private jets to travel.
In December 2022, The Independent reported that Markle traveled by private jet for the second time in a week to attend an awards ceremony with Prince Harry in New York.
She was previously seen boarding a private jet in Indianapolis after appearing at a female empowerment event in the city, The Independent reported. Their use of private jets has raised questions about environmental impact, The Times reported.
When asked about his family's use of private jets at an event in 2019, Harry said, "I spend 99% of my life traveling the world by commercial. Occasionally there needs to be an opportunity based on a unique circumstance to ensure my family are safe, and it's genuinely as simple as that." He added, "For me, it's about balance."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also pay for their own security.
However, in 2022, the couple were fighting for official police protection while in the United Kingdom.
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the UK," according to a statement released in January 2022, NBC reported.
Meghan and Harry appeared to receive official royal security protection when they traveled to the UK for Prince Philip's and later Queen Elizabeth II's funerals, Fox News reported.
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