Prince Harry’s fortune: Where the royal gets his money from
PRINCE Harry spends most of the year performing duties for which he doesn’t necessarily get paid. Here’s how he actually makes his money.
news.com.auNOVEMBER 28, 201710:22PM
PRINCE Harry is a wealthy fella, but how much money does he actually have and where did he get it from?
The 33-year-old, who recently announced his engagement to Suits star Meghan Markle, doesn’t necessarily get paid a set salary for his royal duties.
Instead, he gets some private spending money and has all of his official activities paid for using the income from the Duchy of Cornwall.
Set up by Edward III in 1337, the Duchy of Cornwall is an estate comprising of 53,000ha of agricultural, commercial and residential property mostly situated in the South West of England.
The revenue from the Duchy belongs to the eldest son of the reigning British monarch which has been Prince Charles since 1952.
From April 2015 to March 2016 alone, the revenue from the Duchy was a whopping $35.85 million.
According to the Duchy of Cornwall site, Prince Charles uses some of the revenue to cover “the cost of his public and charitable work as well as the public and private lives of his family, The Duchess of Cornwall [Camilla], The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge [William and Kate] and Prince George and Prince Harry.
Between 2015 and 2016, Prince Charles declared that he spent $15.99 million of the revenue on “official activities” for the members of the royal family mentioned above but it’s not known how much he gave them personally.
So clearly Prince Harry doesn’t have to pay for too much, but he certainly wouldn’t struggle to settle a bill every now and then thanks to a huge inheritance he was able to access when he turned 30.
Meghan Markle is not short of a penny herself, she was reportedly paid $50,000 per episode of Suits.
Meghan Markle is not short of a penny herself, she was reportedly paid $50,000 per episode of Suits.Source:Getty Images
Harry was left £6.5 million in Diana’s will after she died in a car crash in 1997.
The inheritance was invested and it’s estimated that Prince Harry would have ended up with roughly £10.7 million on his birthday in September 2014, which would have been about $A19.13 million at the time.
Danny Cox, head of financial planning at Hargreaves Lansdown, told AP in 2014 that if Prince Harry continued to invest his inheritance properly he could make about $A425,500 per year after tax.
Prince Harry also received a salary during his 10 years with the Army which he left in 2015 after rising to the rank of Captain and undertaking two tours of Afghanistan.
Even though he’s loaded, don’t expect to ever see Prince Harry carrying around wads of cash.
According to Ken Wharfe, a former Metropolitan Police protection officer who looked after Princess Diana, the royals don’t often carry cash and sometimes get their security guards to pay for things before reimbursing them later on.
“It is very rare for members of the Royal Family to carry cash or credit cards so protection officers paying for things is quite a normal practice,” Wharfe told The Telegraph in 2009.
“When I worked with the late Princess Diana I did this on numerous occasions for things like meals at restaurants to hotel bookings.
Prince Harry in Afghanistan's Helmand Province in 2012.
Prince Harry in Afghanistan's Helmand Province in 2012.Source:AFP
“It is usually for unofficial, private business and it is done for security reasons, to keep things as private as possible. Official trips are usually paid for by the individual Royal’s office.”
Prince Harry currently lives in Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace and it’s expected that Meghan Markle will move in after the pair tie the knot next year.
It’s not the world’s biggest house, but it was inside this two-bedroom, 17th-century residence that Prince Harry actually got down on one knee and popped the question.
Ms Markle’s parents will no doubt be thrilled to hear that Prince Charles is expected to cover the costs of the impending nuptials.
“Traditionally the cost of the wedding falls on the wife’s family, but surely this won’t be the case here,” Kate Williams, a historian and royal expert, told CNN.
Prince Charles paid for the majority of the wedding costs when Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011 although the Middleton family did contribute.
Maybe the Markles could provide the bomboniere ... box sets of Suits for everyone!
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