Meghan Markle was ‘surprised and disappointed’ Prince Harry ‘had very little money’, expert claims

Meghan Markle was ‘surprised and disappointed’ that Prince Harry ‘had very little money’, a royal expert has claimed. 

Royal author Tom Bower appeared on GB News earlier this month, where he spoke to the Daily Mail’s Dan Wootton about the couple’s early relationship.

Discussing the Duchess’ misconceptions about the Royal Family, the author – who wrote the 2022 book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors –  described the former Suits actress as ‘money-obsessed’.

The expert said: ‘Her great surprise and disappointment was that Prince Harry had very little money. 

‘She had imagined he would be worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, and she is having to make up for it now.’

Meghan Markle was ‘surprised and disappointed’ that Prince Harry ‘had very little money’, royal expert Tom Bower has sensationally claimed. Pictured: the couple in the grounds of Kensington Palace after their engagement was announced in November 2017

Describing how the couple could not afford their current lifestyle as working members of the Royal Family, the expert added: ‘She wants to ride in the big Cadillacs, the private jets on command. 

‘At the moment she needs to scrounge for those sorts of things.’

Elsewhere in the interview, Tom claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s attendance at the coronation has the potential to ‘ruin’ the coronation and ‘overshadow’ King Charles.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to be invited to the Coronation on May 6, despite the fallout from Harry’s explosive memoir Spare. 

While they were still senior working royals, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were mostly funded by King Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall estate.

Following the couple’s decision to leave the Firm, it was reported Charles’ £1.2billion Duchy of Cornwall estate paid his youngest son around £2.3million-a-year on average.

However, the couple said this sum covered 95 per cent of their office expenditure. 

The remaining five per cent of their annual income came from the taxpayer-funded £82m annual Sovereign Grant, which is handed to the most senior members of the royal family.

Royal author Tom Bower (pictured) appeared on GB News earlier this month, where he spoke to the Daily Mail's Dan Wootton about the couple's early relationship

Royal author Tom Bower (pictured) appeared on GB News earlier this month, where he spoke to the Daily Mail’s Dan Wootton about the couple’s early relationship

What is the Sovereign Grant?

The Sovereign Grant is a funding mechanism of the monarchy.

It is an annual sum which covers the work of the Royal Family.

The grant includes expenses to maintain workspaces and official residences.

The Queen gives up the revenue of the Crown Estate and in return the funds are granted to the Queen for expenditure.  

In the 2018-2019 fiscal report, the Queen gave up around £329 million from the Crown Estate to the government. 

In exchange for £82 million to cover the costs for official expenditure.

The Sovereign Grant for 2020-2021 is £85.9 million. 

The £2.4million refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate was also paid for by this pot, which Prince Harry has since repaid.

When they announced they were stepping down as working royals, the couple pledged in a statement that they wanted to become ‘financially independent while continuing to support Her Majesty The Queen’. 

Months later, the couple signed a deal with Netflix and included their explosive six-part documentary series. It was reported the couple were paid up to £88m for the show, which landed on the streaming service last December.

In December 2020, it was reported the couple had signed a £30m podcast deal with Spotify to host their own shows as part of Archewell Audio.

In their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Prince Harry said he had to rely on his inheritance in the wake of Megxit.

He said: ‘I’ve got what my mum left me. 

‘Without that, we wouldn’t have been able to do this.’

Harry is also reported to have inherited around £20million from his mother, Princess Diana, who died when he was 12. The Queen Mother also left him up to £7million.

Meanwhile, Meghan has a reported personal fortune of £4million, mainly from her acting work and property in Canada. 

Before quitting the series to move to the UK, Meghan was reportedly paid $50,000 for every appearance in Suits and went on to star in more than 100 episodes.

In his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, royal biographer Andrew Morton – who penned Diana: Her True Story – claimed Meghan started charging £15,000 for every speaking engagement following her UN speech in March 2015.

Describing how Meghan’s ‘price tag rose’ in line with her celebrity status, the author claims she signed with the elite talent agency Kruger Cowne – which represents Cher, Elle Macpherson and Goldie Hawn – around this time.

In their bombshell Netflix documentary, Meghan claimed she knew nothing about her future beau’s lifestyle and even had to Google the British national anthem. 

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk