In the face of politically driven takeovers and pressures from the public's prying eyes,
it seems that the ancient wealth of an empire can only spread so thin.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have been at the center of unprecedented
royal controversy since the beginning of their relationship. From widespread disapproval of
their courtship to their ultimate exodus from their roles as Senior members of the
royal family, Harry and Meghan have given the press plenty to report on.
One of the most prominent news cycles about the couple came from their bombshell interview with
Oprah Winfrey. While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared several interesting tidbits
with Winfrey, perhaps the most glaring was Harry's assertion that his father,
now King Charles, had financially cut him off.
"I will always love him, but there's a lot of hurt that's happened."
Reports corroborated Harry's claim about his father's financial decision. While acting as
working royals, nearly all of Harry and Meghan's income came from Harry's father,
and when they stepped away, their financial support was pulled, too. Reports suggest,
though, that the two royals were not left high and dry as the Winfrey interview might have suggested.
Instead, they were supported by the crown through their shift. But,
whether the couple received continued funding from King Charles or not seems moot now,
as they reportedly struck a deal with Netflix for as much as $100 million for
content exclusive to the streaming service, including their documentary Harry & Meghan.
Sarah Ferguson, better known as Sarah,
Duchess of York — or Fergie for short — joined the royal family when she married Prince Andrew, Duke
of York. The couple had two children together, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, though
they divorced in 1996. While she's no longer married to a royal, the Duchess maintains her
royal status in the eyes of the public. And when she reportedly flirted with filing for bankruptcy
over a decade ago, the Windsors allegedly bore the shame of her seemingly outrageous spending.
The Telegraph reported that Ferguson owed as much as £5 million to her debtors,
though that figure was refuted by a spokesperson for the royal, who said,
"There is a number of options open to the duchess, of which bankruptcy is one.
But it would be premature to say she is going into bankruptcy as the situation is being managed."
Any lingering questions about Ferguson's bank accounts were seemingly put to rest
in 2022 when she and her ex-husband made good on their debt, allowing them
to sell their Switzerland home. While the sale was reportedly necessary for Prince
Andrew to move forward with a legal battle regarding allegations of sexual misconduct,
it did indicate that his ex-wife is no longer in the precarious situation she once was.
It's hard to imagine anyone outspending an annual income of nearly a quarter of a million dollars,
yet there are some who reportedly do. Prince Andrew, brother of King Charles and son of
the late Queen Elizabeth II, reportedly began spending beyond his income of £270
thousand from various sources, including a stipend from the crown.
Some of his posh purchases included a fleet of luxury vehicles, such as
Bentleys and Range Rovers, as well as designer watches. What's more, these reckless spending
habits reportedly flourished amid Prince Andrew's legal proceedings after accusations
of his sexual misconduct and friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein surfaced.
Prince Andrew's stipend was paid while he was a working member of the royal family,
but when he stepped down in the midst of the allegations, it was not made public whether
he was still receiving his yearly allotment. Considering this major change to his lifestyle
and his dubious financial position, many wondered whether he'd be good for payment
on what he owed Virginia Giuffre, the plaintiff in Prince Andrew's case.
One source told BBC they predicted that Andrew might not have the means
to pay off a settlement of more than a few million euros.
The history of India is as rich as some of its royal descendants — but not all. Some,
like Sultana Zeenat Mahal Begum's heirs, have been cut off from the
assets afforded to the plethora of heirs in the country for one reason or another.
Members of Sultana Begum's family, like Zeenat Mahal Shaikh,
claim the reasons are political. Despite coming from a historically wealthy family,
Shaikh only received small monthly payments from the government, according to Time of India.
While her heirs did not go from extreme wealth to extreme poverty, their ancestors did. Zeenat Mahal
Begum was favored by the emperor she married, and whatever she wanted, he procured for her.
The empress even arrived to a chorus of drums when visiting her homes. After a politically
charged fall from glory, however, Zeenat Mahal Begum lived and died in abject poverty.
According to The Patriot, the palace where Zeenat Mahal Begum once lived is now used as
a girls' school. Although she wasn't able to bestow upon her progeny generational wealth,
many still recognize her in a positive light and as a feminist pillar of her nation's history.
There's money, and then there's oil money. While some royal families are fighting over
millions of dollars, Saudi princes are selling off hundreds of millions in assets. In 2022,
various Saudi princes put $600 million of their most valuable belongings,
including yachts and artwork, up for sale. This material purging was at the behest of their ruler,
Mohammed Bin Salman's instruction, as he attempted to address the economic corruption in his nation.
Saudi princes know how to spend their money. Take Prince Abdullah al Saud,
a royal who's also an accomplished equestrian whose grandfather instructed
the Saudi Equestrian Fund to find the best horses for the sport, leading to at least $49
million in expenditure. Then there's Prince Badr who, albeit on someone else's behalf,
spent over $450 million on a single piece of art: Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi.
"Sold!"
Not all Saudi princes have such bountiful wealth,
though. As Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad told an outlet,
"I've seen the stereotype of a Saudi who can call upon $18 billion. I tell
you what. If I was worth $18 billion, I would have bought the 49ers and Arsenal!"
Despite this claim, we advise you to take Prince Abdulla's words with a grain of salt,
as he does own part of the Sheffield United Football Club.