King Charles' Meghan Markle New Money "Bombshell" Left Prince Harry "Infuriated"
This issue has caused tension between father and brothers.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's departure from the British Royal Family was accompanied by a list of ways they felt slighted by the members of the crown, from typical in-law tensions to allegations of outright racism. The grievances formed the basis of Harry's now-bestselling memoir Spare and have been discussed and dissected—but new ones just keep coming. The latest comes from Robert Jobson's new book Our King: Charles III — The Man And The Monarch Revealed, which reports that Prince Harry was "infuriated" by a bombshell dropped by King Charles when Harry announced his engagement to Meghan Markle. Read on to find out what it is, and more about why this issue has caused tension between father and brothers.
According to the book, when Harry told his father and brother about his intent to marry Markle, he received a less-than-enthusiastic response. "Are you sure, Harold?" Prince William reportedly said. Harry was then "infuriated" when Charles told him that he couldn't afford to pay for Meghan in the future as well as for Camilla and Prince William and his young family, the book contends.
The conflict between Harry and his father grew, and after Prince Harry moved to California, Queen Elizabeth found herself caught in the middle. She sincerely hoped that Harry would find "peace and happiness" in his new chosen life and spoke to him regularly on the phone. However, "it troubled the Queen when he kept trying to air his grievances," Jobson writes. "In the end, she asked him to speak directly to his father instead." He quotes his source as saying the queen "found Prince Harry's calls quite difficult and wearisome. She didn't want to interfere in the father/son relationship and would urge him to speak to his father."
But that tactic backfired. "Prince Charles simply stopped taking Harry's calls after his son swore at him and repeatedly asked for funds," Jobson writes. "When the Queen asked Charles why he hadn't given in, he told her that he wasn't a bank." In Harry and Meghan's much-discussed sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry told Oprah that Charles had stopped taking his calls.
Charles has been adamant about reducing the royal family's expenses. Following his vision of a "slimmed-down" royal family, extended family members have been cut from the list of official working royals, and Prince Harry and Meghan have been asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, which was to be their UK home base during visits from California. Several extended members of the royal family now have housing that's subsidized by the palace, including some apartments that are used by their children as "London pads." Charles reportedly plans to eradicate these over time.
Although his family relationships have been damaged by financial battles, among others, Harry shouldn't be hurting for money these days. Yahoo! Finance recently broke down Harry and Meghan's reported sources of income. They include:
- A $100 million Netflix deal they signed after stepping back from the royal family in September 2020
- A $35 million to $45 million contract with Penguin Random House for Harry's memoir Spare. (Harry has said he intends to donate proceeds from the book to charity.)
- A $30 million Spotify deal. Meghan hosts the podcast Archetypes on the streamer.
- $10 million inherited from the estate of his late mother, Princess Diana
- Meghan reportedly has $4 million in assets from her time as an actress, including a co-starring role in the drama Suits
But last month, a royal expert claimed that Meghan was disappointed with Harry's financial status. Tom Bower, author of the 2022 book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, called Meghan "money-obsessed" in an interview with the Daily Mail. "Her great surprise and disappointment was that Prince Harry had very little money," said Bower. "She had imagined he would be worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, and she is having to make up for it now."
Although Harry and Meghan announced their intention to become financially independent after moving to California, a source recently told Radar they didn't count on King Charles closing his wallet completely. "They never imagined they would be totally cut off," the insider said, adding they have been "bleeding money" since their move to the U.S. "When Harry was a royal, he'd go on huge shopping sprees, glamorous vacations, and buy everyone drinks and dinner at expensive London restaurants," the source claimed. "Charles funded everything, so Harry didn't have to think about money." The couple's expenses include a $10 million mortgage on their six-bedroom Montecito, California, mansion, along with staffing and security costs.
The Radar piece detailed how the couple has had to "get creative" to earn money. In late February, Meghan appeared in an Instagram ad for the coffee brand Clevr Blends. And Harry is charging $39.95 to view a live-streamed therapy session with a trauma expert. "Harry's goal is to promote therapy as a way to help with mental health issues, but charging people to watch seems tacky," a source said, adding it's "just another example of how low he'll go to make a buck."
In February, Page Six reported that the couple had hired "a big-time Hollywood dealmaker to help them rake in even more millions." Adam Lilling works at the "intersection of celebrity and venture investing." His clients reportedly include Ellen DeGeneres, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, and other A-listers. Lilling was named one of the Hollywood Reporter's top dealmakers of 2022. "Our mission is to take people who can affect change in the world and marry them with the top operators and entrepreneurs," he told the publication. "We're not really focused on their entertainment endeavors. We're focused on connecting their profits, their passion, and purpose with profit opportunities in the private equity landscape."
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Whether time will heal the familial rift remains to be seen. In the meantime, after some rumors to the contrary, Harry and Meghan have been invited to King Charles' coronation on May 6, which is coincidentally Prince Archie's birthday. But they reportedly have yet to accept. Last week, a spokesperson told the BBC they haven't made a decision either way. The rep told the news outlet, there was "no update on whether they were attending."
