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The first episodes of a new documentary series about Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were released by Netflix on Thursday (8).
The couple no longer receive money from the royal family and much of their income comes from business deals.
WHY DID HARRY AND MEGHAN REIGN THEIR ROYAL POSITIONS?
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior royals in January 2020. They said they were angered by the media intrusion and frustrated that Buckingham Palace had prevented them from developing their “SussexRoyal” brand.
Other royals said they were “hurt” at the couple.
Harry remained Prince, and the couple retained their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but are no longer addressed as Her Royal Highness (HRH in English).
Harry also renounced his official military titles and therefore did not wear a uniform to the funeral of his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, unlike his father, now King Charles III, and his brother, William.
However, he and Prince Andrew, Duke of York (another non-acting royal), were allowed to wear military clothing as they stood vigil around the former monarch’s coffin.
Prince Andrew stepped down as an acting royal in 2019 following controversy over his friendship with the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein, convicted of involvement in a child trafficking and sexual abuse scheme.
WHERE DO MEGHAN AND HARRY LIVE?
The couple moved to California in June 2020. They said they wanted space to raise their family and focus on their new Archewell Foundation.
The couple returned to the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022 and her funeral in September.
It is unclear whether they will attend King Charles III’s coronation, scheduled to take place in May 2023.
HOW DO MEGHAN AND HARRY MAKE MONEY?
Television and podcasts
Sussex media company Archewell Productions is making a series of shows for Netflix, a deal worth tens of millions of dollars.
Archewell also does podcasts for Spotify, including the Archetypes series about famous women.
In March 2021, Harry and Meghan gave an interview to American presenter Oprah Winfrey, but said they were not paid for it.
Books
Meghan published a children’s book called “The Bench” (“The Bench”) in 2021.
Random House will publish Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare, in January 2023.
Other sources of income
In March 2021, Harry was named “Director of Impact” for BetterUp, a Californian life coaching company.
WHAT DID PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN LOSE WHEN THEY LEFT THEIR ROYAL POSITIONS?
Annual income
As acting royals, they received 95% of their annual income from the Duchy of Cornwall, owned by Harry’s father, Charles, then the Prince of Wales.
In the 2018-2019 financial year (the first year of their marriage), the Duchy paid more than £5m (£2m) to cover public duties – and some private expenses – for the Sussexes and William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant represented the other 5% of the couple’s income.
Charles later gave them “a substantial sum” to support their transition towards financial independence, according to his office.
Accounts for the Duchy of Cornwall reveal that the couple, along with Prince William and Kate, received around £4.5 million (£10.6 million) between April and June 2020.
“This financing ceased [no verão de 2020],” said a spokesperson.
Safety
After Harry and Meghan stepped down from their official roles, the Duke and Duchess were no longer covered by the security arrangements in place for royals.
When Prince Harry first left the UK, he said it would be too dangerous for him to bring his family back without police protection.
In July 2022, he received permission to challenge the decision in the High Court of the United Kingdom.
frogmore
The Queen gave Harry and Meghan an estate in Windsor, Frogmore Cottage, when they got married.
The house was renovated at a cost of 2.4 million pounds (R$ 15.3 million), paid by the Crown Estate —a group of lands and real estate properties in the United Kingdom that belong to the British monarch and that have an estimated value of almost US$ 20 billion (R$ 127 billion, in current values).
Revenue from the Crown Estate goes to the UK Treasury, which is responsible for implementing the government’s fiscal and economic policies.
The Treasury then gives the monarch normally 15% of the Crown Estate’s profits from the previous two years, while the government takes the rest.
The couple repaid this amount to the treasury when they resigned from their official duties as senior royals.
WHAT OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME DO HARRY AND MEGHAN HAVE?
William and Harry received most of the £13 million fortune (R$ 83 million in current values) left when their mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997.
Speaking to Oprah Winfrey, Harry said it funded his move to the US: “I have what my mum left me and without that we wouldn’t have been able to do this (move).”
It is also believed that Harry inherited millions of pounds from his great-grandmother, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
It is not known whether the late Queen Elizabeth II left him any money.
During her successful acting career, Meghan would have received US$ 50,000 (R$ 260,000 in current values) for each episode of the series Suits. She played Rachel Zane in over 100 episodes over seven seasons.
The Duchess of Sussex also had a lifestyle blog and designed items for a Canadian fashion brand.
This text was originally published here.
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