Being a member of the British royal family comes with a long set of rules and regulations.
Senior royals receive an income to carry out official duties, but those lower down the
food chain are often responsible for managing their own finances.
Here are the controversial ways royals made money.
There's no denying the so-called Megxit sent shockwaves around the world.
After announcing in January that they planned to, quote "work to become financially independent,"
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal transition would officially start on March 31.
One thing they did that raised a few eyebrows?
The couple reportedly made a private joint appearance at a JP Morgan Investment Summit
in Miami that February, and were rumored to have secured a million dollar payday for the
event.
According to The Guardian, Harry spoke to the crowd about mental health, and even managed
to loop the topic of his mother, Princess Diana, into the speech.
Members of the royal family are unlikely to be pleased that Markle and Prince Harry were
already taking money for their services from a multinational investment bank, no less.
Of course, once the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were no longer senior royals, paid speaking
engagements would likely become their new norm.
Without their senior royal responsibilities and the rules they're bound to follow, Markle
and Prince Harry would be able to enjoy a freedom they hadn't had since getting married
as well as the chance to make some serious cash.
One thing you might not realize about the royals is that they apparently love milk.
In fact, Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips, and Princess Diana's niece, Lady Kitty Spencer,
are such big milk fanatics that they've both appeared in milk advertisements in China.
"This is what I drink."
While Spencer isn't in line to the throne and is free to work with advertisers, Phillips'
involvement has reportedly stirred a few feathers.
An article in The Guardian pointed out that Peter appeared to be trading off of his royal
family connections in order to make money, all while technically being 15th in line to
the throne.
After separating in 1992, Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew officially divorced four years
later.
Discussing the matter with Harper's Bazaar in 2007, the Duchess of York said,
"I wanted to work; it's not right for a princess of the royal house to be commercial, so Andrew
and I decided to make the divorce official so I could go off and get a job."
Ferguson became a spokesperson for Weight Watchers in 1997, held the position for 11
years, and reportedly took home a lot of money for the trouble.
Looking back on her first major endorsement, she told Harper's Bazaar,
"I was so lacking in self-confidence when I found Weight Watchers' counselors, who saved
my life."
Once she got started with her new vocation, Ferguson quickly took on more work.
According to The Guardian, she booked gigs with Wedgwood China, Charles Schwab, and even
worked as a guest presenter on CNN's Larry King Live, making a name for herself as a
media personality.
However, the publication was quick to note that all of her many endorsements were, quote,
"viewed with a certain sharp intake of breath from Buckingham Palace, where she has been
almost persona non grata since her divorce."
"I'm so unconventional that instead of serving tea, I serve Ocean Spray cran apple juice
drink.”
In 2010, Sarah Ferguson infamously appeared to take a £500,000 bribe in exchange for
access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew, who's remained a senior member of the British royal
family amid his own series of scandals.
According to The Guardian, the Duchess of York admitted to making a, quote, "serious
lapse in judgment" after making the unseemly deal with a News of the World reporter.
The reporter had gone undercover as an international businessman to see if he could buy access
to Prince Andrew as part of an expose.
The investigation proved to be worthwhile.
Speaking about the alleged bribe, Ferguson could be heard saying on tape,
"That opens up everything you would ever wish for.
I can open any door you want, and I will for you.
Look after me and he'll look after you...you'll get it back tenfold."
After being seemingly caught on video, Fergie issued an apology:
"I can confirm that The Duke of York was not aware or involved in any of the discussions
that occurred.
I am sincerely sorry for my actions."
"What more can I say?"
When you're not a senior member of the royal family, you can get away with a lot more when
it comes to making bank.
"Had a great life growing up because we didn't have a title."
Zara Tindall, Princess Anne's daughter and Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter, doesn't hold
a royal title and isn't a working member of the British royal family.
As such, she's allowed to organize her own business ventures and endorse products if
she wants, and it seems she does.
Tindall has reportedly worked as a brand ambassador for companies like Rolex, Land Rover, the
clothing brand Musto, and more.
As if those deals weren't impressive enough, the Olympic medal-winning equestrian also
boasts her own line of jewelry with the luxury Australian brand, Calleija.
2012 saw Tindall become the first Magic Millions Racing Women Ambassador, a role which reportedly
netted her around £125,000 a year, according to the Daily Mail.
The publication even speculated that Princess Anne's daughter could be raking in as much
as £1.1 million annually from her endorsement deals alone.
But while some might think that Tindall's plethora of advertising deals are a little
classless for a member of the royal family, she's not technically breaking any rules.
King Edward VIII infamously abdicated the British throne in December 1936, after less
than a year in the role.
This was because he wanted to marry American divorcée, Wallis Simpson, and the rules at
the time simply wouldn't allow it.
He then became known as Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor, and moved to France, and
the world was understandably desperate to hear the former king's story in his own words.
Prince Edward's penchant for the finer things in life meant that his allowance from the
crown didn't always cut it.
As a result, he decided to produce his memoirs, having them ghost-written and then published
under the title A King's Story in 1951, among other books.
Apparently, the duke's writing was worth a considerable amount of money; according to
Forbes, contemporary reporters in London guessed that the Duke received more than $1 million
for A King's Story, a sum that would be worth over ten times as much today.
In fact, Prince Edward's books sold so well that Simpson decided to pen her own autobiography,
too.
It's unlikely that the other royals were very happy with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
for revealing the inside details of the British royal family for cash, but there probably
wasn't much they could do to stop them either.
Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle in October 2018.
But unlike his wife, Brooksbank wasn't a member of the royal family prior to getting hitched.
As the princess' mother, Sarah Ferguson, revealed on the BBC's The One Show that August,
"The good news is Jack also works as the European Manager for Casamigos Tequila, so I am perfect.
He'll just hand me the tequila and say, 'Come on, mother-in-law, down it.'"
Of course, one of the co-founders of Casamigos was A-lister George Clooney, meaning that
the brand has plenty of celebrity clientele and international kudos.
As well as representing a tequila brand, the Daily Mail reported that Princess Eugenie's
husband distributes the liquor through a company he set up for himself by the name of Jack
Brooksbank Ltd.
He's reportedly far from new to the hospitality industry; according to the Daily Mail, Brooksbank
used to work in pubs in Chelsea that were frequently visited by Prince Harry, and he
also managed a club called in the affluent area of Mayfair which was also reportedly
favored by the royals.
Basically, Brooksbank has always moved in royal circles, although he's usually been
the one serving the alcohol.
While it's presumably not against any rules, it certainly seems like a strange occupation
for a member of the royal family.
Prince Andrew has often found himself in the news for the wrong reasons, and that includes
his financial affairs.
The Duke of York used to act as a trade envoy for businesses in the U.K., but was accused
of using the position and his status as a prince to further his own interests.
In November 2019, the Daily Mail ran an exposé of his business activities, claiming,
"We can reveal how the Duke of York repeatedly exploited his taxpayer-funded role as Britain's
trade envoy to work behind the scenes for his close friend, the controversial multi-millionaire
financier David Rowland."
While on official business for the royal family, Prince Andrew reportedly promoted a bank in
Luxembourg that was owned and operated by Rowland.
While this alleged abuse of power reportedly involved sharing confidential documents and
co-owning a business in a Caribbean tax haven, Buckingham Palace defended Prince Andrew's
endeavors in a statement, which read in part,
"The Duke of York was the UK's special representative for international trade and investment between
2001 and July 2011 and in that time the aim, and that of his office, was to promote Britain
and British interests overseas not the interests of individuals."
Three years prior, according to The Independent, the palace was forced to deny the prince,
quote, "acted as a 'fixer' in a Kazakhstan business deal from which he allegedly stood
to make nearly £4m in 'commission.'"
It seems Prince Andrew's finances could only be described as "shady."
If you thought the British royals were the only ones to make money in surprising ways,
think again.
Princess Märtha Louise is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne, but her career has
taken her in a very different, and sometimes controversial, direction.
In August 2019, the princess announced that she would no longer be using her royal title,
unless she was carrying out official business for the royal family.
However, trouble arose when she started publicly getting into holistic therapies and other
strange practices.
She reportedly began to describe herself as a clairvoyant, claiming she could communicate
with angels.
When Princess Märtha Louise went on to advertise her supposed skills, along with those of boyfriend
Shaman Durek, in seminars called "The Princess and the Shaman," people felt that the royal
was misusing her title and status.
"...stuff going on, but we're fine, yeah."
"Really?!"
"Yes!"
"Yeah?"
In 2019, in an Instagram post translated by People, the princess wrote,
"There have been many discussions about my use of title in a commercial context lately.
The fact that I used Princess in the title of my tour, I have said before that I am very
sorry, and I still stand by that.
It was a mistake and I understand that it provokes when the princess title is used this
way."
Surprisingly enough, it would seem that running a new-age wellness endeavor just doesn't mix
with being a princess.
In addition to helping to sell milk in China, Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips, also
sold his royal wedding photos for profit, a questionable move for a member of the royal
family.
When he tied the knot with Canadian Autumn Phillips in 2008, the British royal sold the
rights to his official wedding photos to Hello! magazine for a reported £500,000, according
to the Daily Mail.
At the time, Buckingham Palace reportedly called the deal "a serious error of judgment."
Oops.
While it's hard to imagine any other member of the royal family selling their wedding
photos to a magazine, it just goes to prove that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are far
from the only members of the British royal family to explore money-making opportunities.
Whether or not you believe that the royals should be selling their services, there's
most definitely a public demand for any insight into the lives of the rich, famous, and regal.
In that sense, it could be argued that Phillips was simply giving the public what it wanted
although his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, just might quite disagree with that one.
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