PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle made another dramatic move nine days into the new year by announcing they will be stepping down as senior royals.
The pair claim they will become financially independent, but how much are Harry and Meghan worth?
How much is Prince Harry worth?
Prince Harry‘s net worth comes in at 30,500,000.
In 1994, The Queen Mother put away around 19million into a trust fund for her great grandchildren – which obviously includes William and Harry.
According to The Guardian, the brothers split 6million of this trust at age 21 and Harry took the majority of the money to “compensate for not becoming sovereign.”
And it’s only going to get better for the men as when they reach 40 they reportedly get to split another 8million, but the other grandchildren, including Eugenie and Beatrice will get a few million pounds each.
As well as funds coming in from their great grandmother, Forbes reported that Princess Diana left her boys nearly 8million after taxes.
It was also set up that once Wills and Harry were 25 they started to receive around 340,000 a year.
As a full-time working royal, Harry receives an annual allowance from his dad.
In 2018, Prince Charles paid 4.9million to Harry, William and their partners from the Duchy.
How much is Meghan Markle worth?
Before she tied the knot with Harry, Meghan was worth an estimated 3.5million, thanks to her role in American drama Suits.
She pocketed a reported 500,000 pay-check for her role as Rachel Zane in legal drama Suits.
Marriage to a royal has certainly boosted her finances though and her assets: she now has a 91-piece jewellery collection worth 600,000.
What is the Queen’s Sovereign Grant and how much do senior royals get paid?
The Sovereign Grant is funding provided to support the official duties of the Queen and to maintain the occupied royal palaces.
The total Sovereign Grant for 2018-19 was 82.2million and covers the costs for ravel, security, staff and the upkeep of royal palaces.
According to the Duke and Duchess’s official website, they receive just five per cent of their funding from the Sovereign Grant.
It also includes a dedicated amount to find the ten-year reservicing of Buckingham Palace.
Each person in the UK pays 1.24 per year towards the grant.
Sussex household currently gets an estimated 2million a year from the Queen’s Sovereign Grant.
Meghan and Harry with the Queen
How will they become financially independent?
The controversial pair have said that they “value the ability to earn a professional income“, but just how do they envision doing so?
In their new website, which talks about their “new working model”, they have hinted around setting up a charity.
The website said: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex take great pride in their work and are committed to continuing their charitable endeavours as well as establishing new ones.
“In addition, they value the ability to earn a professional income, which in the current structure they are prohibited from doing.
“For this reason they have made the choice to become members of the royal family with financial independence.
“Their Royal Highnesses feel this new approach will enable them to continue to carry out their duties for Her Majesty the Queen, while having the future financial autonomy to work externally.”
BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond said: “There is a problem for members of the Royal Family relatively senior ones, even if they say theyre no longer senior getting jobs, because they are seen to monetise their brand and you run into a whole host of questions about conflict of interest”.
How rich are the rest of the Royal Family?
The Queen makes 1.6billion a year and her husband, Prince Philip – who was born penniless in a kitchen in Corfu – is worth 44million.
Courtesy of the Duchy of Cornwall the “private estate” whose revenue goes directly to Charles – the Queens heir receives an annual income of around 21million.
Williams personal wealth is understood to be partly thanks to a legacy from his great-grandmother the Queen Mother, who put the bulk of her estimated 70million fortune into a trust fund for her great-grandchildren in 1994, leaving William and his brother Harry with around 14million between them.
Kate Middleton is worth 8million and her private wealth is boosted by the many “freebies” gifted to the royal couple, from villas on the Caribbean island of Mustique to ski chalets.
