The couple took a financial hit upon leaving royal family, but their net worth has rebounded with several media mega-deals.
When Prince Harry and Meghan relinquished their royal duties in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were soon faced with an urgent question: How to earn a living.
Although they were well off by ordinary standards, Forbes last year pegged their net worth at a fairly modest $10 million, including the remains of Harry’s inheritance from his mother, Princess Diana, and the equity the pair have in their California mansion. They were also financially cut off from the British Crown’s estimated $34 billion estate.
The answer, ironically, was to cash in on public fascination with the glamorous couple who dared to flee the royal family’s gilded cage, along with the incessant media scrutiny their official roles entailed. And despite the mixed critical reaction to their new Netflix documentary series, “Harry & Meghan,” what is certain is the venture has made them much richer.
Here’s what is known about the trailblazing royals’ sources of wealth and income.
Harry’s inheritance
Prince Harry told Oprah last year that the the couple had “no plan” when they moved to California in 2020 and relied solely on his inheritance from Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997.
“I’ve got all my mom left me, and without that we would not be able to do this,” Harry told Oprah.
According to the Independent, Diana left an estate worth nearly 13 million pounds to be split by her two sons, which grew to 20 million pounds by the time they could legally access it at age 30. That means Harry’s share was roughly 10 million pounds, or $12.2 million at current exchange rates.
That money was partly diminished by the $3 million they repaid to cover renovations made on the couple’s U.K. residences — costs that were initially covered by British taxpayers.
Harry and Meghan have about $5 million in equity on their mansion in Montecito, California, which carries a mortgage worth nearly $10 million, although they are reportedly looking to move, according to TMZ.
Meghan’s acting
Before the couple married, Meghan was an actor, then known as Meghan Markle, and ran a lifestyle blog. The bulk of her income came from her appearances on the USA Network drama series “Suits,” for which she was paid $50,000 per episode.
She entered the marriage with a net worth of about $5 million, according to the Independent.
Netflix deal
After breaking with the royal family, Harry and Meghan founded Archewell Productions, an offshoot of their nonprofit organization, with the stated goal of creating “programming that informs, elevates and inspires.” The company signed a multiyear production deal with Netflix estimated to be worth between $100 million and $150 million, according to Deadline and Us Weekly.
