With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle losing top staff and facing the possible collapse of their Archewell brand, the self-exiled royals might not be too happy to read this week that Harry’s estranged brother, Prince William, is doing really well, at least financially.
Indeed, new reports reveal that William’s role as Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne comes with a steady, American CEO-level salary, which was $30.9 million for the 2024-25 financial year, People and other outlets said. This salary doesn’t come from British taxpayers but from the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate that was originally established back in 1337 and is passed down from one heir to the throne to the next. The estate is now worth more than $1 billion and includes houses, farms, land, and other assets among 130,000 acres spanning 23 counties across England and Wales, as explained by InStyle.
William inherited the Duchy when his grandmother, Elizabeth II, died, and his father, King Charles III, ascended to the throne in 2022. His salary from the estate, in the form of a “net revenue surplus,” is supposed to provide “independence” to the heir, with the sum covering his official, charitable and private expenses. William also is understood to pay tax on his income, but only after subtracting household expenses, which were not specified in the latest report, People reported.
News about William’s income has already stirred online questions about what work he actually does to earn such a massive sum, as well as a debate about whether Britons should continue to support a monarchy if it allows for such displays of privilege and generational wealth.
But then there also are those who have compared William’s evident wealth to Harry’s fortune, or what remains of Harry’s fortune, given reports that Archewell, the business, media and philanthropic organization that he and Meghan launched in 2020 is “in peril.”
“No wonder Harry wants to get back into the Royal fold!” someone commented on the People magazine story about William’s eight-figure salary. But since Harry is the famous “spare,” and not the direct heir to the throne, he apparently would never be entitled to a share of the Duchy of Cornwall billions.
Meanwhile, Archewell is “essentially shuttered,” a source told Page Six as news broke this past week that two top advisers were stepping down from their positions with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. On Monday, James Holt, the couple’s long-standing adviser, announced that he was departing his job as chief of their Archewell Foundation, leaving only one part-time consultant on staff, Page Six also reported.
Late last week, Meredith Maines, the chief of communications officer for the couple’s official office, announced that she, too, was leaving her position. According to reports by Tom Sykes, the Daily Beast’s European editor, and others the seasoned PR professional and Stanford University graduate had become weary of working for a couple who famously shun expert advice and who have become known for repeatedly making choices that cause self-inflicted PR damage.
Maines also became the 11th publicist in five years to quit a job with the Sussexes, reigniting long-standing questions about whether they are difficult to work for and whether Meghan is, as reported, a “bullying” boss. Meanwhile, there have been drastic cutbacks to Harry and Meghan’s Archewell production business, with which the couple aim to develop film, TV and audio projects. Page Six reported that there are “just a few employees left” in their production business, and Archewell could lose more staffers if Meghan’s Netflix lifestyle show, “With Love, Meghan,” is not brought back for another season.
“From a year ago, they have decreased their staff by at least 80-85 percent,” an industry source told Page Six. The couple have spent the past few months in cost-cutting talks for their charity and have even discussed selling it. Another source told Page Six that Harry and Meghan have “essentially shuttered Archewell.”
“It’s hard to escape the feeling that we are watching the real-time collapse of the Archewell brand,” Sykes said. He also questioned whether anyone would want to buy anything right now from Meghan’s As Ever lifestyle company — her $36 collection of fruit spreads and orange marmalade; her small, $15 tin of dried flower sprinkles; or her $64 mint-and-cardamom candle. “There had been a sense for a while that the whole brand had run off the edge of the cliff and only hadn’t fallen because nobody had looked down,” Sykes added.
Sykes also explained that this is a tricky time for Harry. Earlier this year, his net worth was reported to be around $60 million, thanks to his inheritance from his mother, whatever he earned from publishing his memoir “Spare” in 2023 and lucrative contracts he’s signed with brands such as Spotify, Netflix and the mental health startup BetterUp, according to Parade magazine.
But he and Meghan lead an expensive lifestyle, with their nine-bedroom mansion in Montecito, private security costs, international travel and other expenses, according to Parade. They lost their multimillion-dollar deal with Spotify, and Netflix chose not to renew their five-year production deal. Harry is still listed as “chief impact officer” for BetterUp, though its not clear what exactly that work entails or how much he gets paid.
More recently, Harry appears to have taken up a “sad” new profession, getting paid six figures or more to give speeches for professional organizations, such as a recent gig speaking to a conference room of Canadian real estate professionals, Sykes said. For Harry, a lot now rides on his ability to win yet another pending court case against a British tabloid and his appeal to the U.K. Home Office to reinstate his automatic, British-taxpayer funded security, according to Sykes.
Harry lost this security when he stepped away from royal life and moved to the United States. But if he can get his security back, he could potentially gain International Protected Person status, which could mean that all his security is provided for free, even while he’s living in the United States, Sykes said.
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