Prince Charles gave the Duke and Duchess of Sussex a “significant sum” of money in the early months of their retirement from senior royal duties. The payments were made public shortly after Harry told Oprah Winfrey the royal family had cut off their finances since they moved to the US.
Specifically, the Prince of Wales paid nearly 4.5 million pounds to the Sussex family and the Cambridge family in the first financial quarter of 2020 (first 6 months of the year), down 20% compared to the same period last year.
The money is said to be used to “fund the activities” of Harry, Meghan, William and Kate. Royal sources did not specify the exact amount of money given to Harry, covering the first four months of their “transition period,” but it is certainly not a small amount.
In addition, the financial report also revealed that Harry and Meghan paid back £2.4 million in public money for the renovation of Frogmore Cottage, as well as 18 months of rent.
“I think Prince Charles will be relieved that Harry and Meghan are now off his payroll,” said royal biographer Ingrid Seward. “And the British public will be relieved that they have paid back what they owe from the renovation of Frogmore Cottage.”
Before Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal roles, 95% of their income came from Charles’s private fortune. The 72-year-old prince has a net worth of nearly £1 billion, with much of his income coming from financial investments and the Duchy of Cornwall estate. The estate covers more than 52,000 hectares, spread across 21 counties, mainly in south-west England, and includes arable and livestock farms, residential and commercial properties, as well as forests, rivers, quarries and coastline.
“The Prince of Wales currently uses a significant portion of his income from the Duchy Estate to meet the costs of his public and charitable work, as well as the public and private lives of his family, including The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and their children,” the Duchy of Cornwall website wrote before the Sussexes were officially cut off from funding.
When Charles becomes king, William will become Duke of Cornwall and inherit his father’s Cornwall estate.