Is it possible for a prince to find himself in dire financial straits?
According to a prominent royal watcher, Harry and Meghan may soon prove it.
When they stepped down from their roles as senior working royals, People notes that the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex expressed their intention to continue living a life of public service,
despite the queen's assertions that it couldn't be done. In the years since,
the celebrity couple has also scored lucrative deals with media companies including Netflix
and Spotify. But they've run into some unexpected problems with their new careers.
Forbes claims that the Sussexes need to start bringing in money soon if they want to survive
in the States. The celebrity couple has a large staff manning their Archewell nonprofit
foundation and its accompanying production arm. Not to mention that they frequently fly private,
including to Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee celebration in June 2022. The Duchess likely
has some savings from her acting career, but her husband has been completely cut off.
"I left my career, my life. I left everything because I love him, right?"
Meghan and Harry may live in fashionable Montecito and call the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Serena
Williams friends, but the Sussexes apparently aren't rolling in the dough. According to royal
expert Tina Brown, they're not particularly well off in comparison to other A-listers.
Responding to reports in the Santa Barbara News-Press about the couple looking for a
new "private estate in Hope Ranch," an exclusive area close to their current home, Brown told The
Telegraph that Meghan should consider marrying Elon Musk instead if she wants to live there.
Brown continued,
"It's not very pleasant to be a D-list celebrity who, for them,
doesn't have enough money. It's a wholly different game to be with those super-rich people."
Brown also described the Sussexes' Montecito
mansion as a "humble cottage" compared to the places their friends live in.
The royal expert then waded into the ongoing discourse about the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex reneging on their deals to spill the royal family's secrets. Brown said,
"They are now in this bind, where they've taken all this money and Harry has made
this book deal where he's supposed to spill everything about his horrible life as a royal,
but now he's actually tortured about it because he understands there is no way back if he does it."
Brown contends that if the tell-all book ever does come out,
it'll be the final straw for Harry's family. Another royal expert, Katie Nicholl, said,
"When you're having that sort of an advance,
that's not going to be for Harry talking about his philanthropic work."
Meghan Markle has also unexpectedly found herself in hot water with Spotify after
the Duchess of Sussex failed to live up to the expectations of her multimillion-dollar
agreement with them. But once she finally began releasing episodes of her podcast,
"Archetypes," it was a massive hit, Variety notes.
But now there's a new problem: Meghan and Harry are reportedly butting heads with Netflix over
their other lucrative deal with the streamer. Insiders told Page Six that the Duke and Duchess
of Sussex are finding it impossible to come to an agreement with the streaming giant over what
should and shouldn't be included in their upcoming docuseries. In the wake of the queen's death,
Meghan and Harry reportedly wish to cut certain things from their show,
but Netflix doesn't think it makes sense. A source inside Netflix confirmed,
"Harry and Meghan are having second thoughts on their own story."
Another insider elaborated,
"Harry and Meghan are panicked about trying to tone down even
the most basic language. But it's their story, from their own mouths."
In particular, the royal defectors are believed to have taken shots at King Charles,
Queen Consort Camilla, and Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales. There
are fears that they may even refuse to move forward without the requested edits.
Regardless, the Netflix source said the streamer is "standing by the filmmakers."