The Daily Mail published yet another breakdown of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s finances. If the royalist talking point is “the Sussexes don’t matter, they’re not relevant to the monarchy,” then why all of this monthly pocket-watching? Why do reporters consistently “forget” about various revenue streams for Harry and Meghan? Why does anyone in the UK worry about Harry and Meghan’s finances considering they are not receiving one cent from British taxpayers? I’ll spare you much of the forced melodrama of this new piece, but there were some sections I wanted to discuss:

What’s going on with Meghan’s ShopMy page? When she started posting links on the ShopMy e-commerce site, some thought that this was going to prove an irresistible source of serious income for the Duchess of Sussex. After an initial flurry on the site… Meghan has fallen silent. Indeed, she’s not posted in over two months on ShopMy and it seems that her ranking has dropped from icon to enthusiast as a result. While she continues to appear regularly on her own Instagram page and that of her brand, As Ever, she or her team are not linking through for ‘easy money’. Maybe the rewards didn’t justify the (minimal) effort, or maybe… she just doesn’t need the cash? A spokesman for the couple did not respond to requests for clarification but a source says that – however lucrative – this potential revenue stream is simply not important to her. ‘Her current priorities are centred on As Ever and expanding her business ventures. ShopMy represents an exploration into social media that she enjoys.’ The source adds: ‘The duchess has consistently approached ShopMy with a focus on authentically sharing products and designers she supports, particularly female founders she wants to uplift.’

Meghan wasn’t featured in the Montecito Journal: That said, for someone with Gwyneth Paltrow-Goop-style aspirations, Meghan isn’t even mentioned in the latest edition of the Montecito Journal, which has ‘Female Founders’ and philanthropists in Montecito as its cover story this month. Dozens of local women are featured, but Meghan does not make the cut. That must hurt.

The Sussexes’ lifestyle costs $4 million a year: The couple are widely reported to have taken out a mortgage, with repayments apparently standing at $480,000 a year. On top of this, property tax will be a further $68,000 a year. Utilities are estimated at $24,000 a year, staffing costs $250,000 and security – always a priority for Prince Harry, who made two tours of duty in Afghanistan with the Army Air Corps – is said to cost up to $3million a year. It all adds up to needing to clear around $4million a year after tax, which is quite a task.

The Netflix deal: If Harry and Meghan had really been getting $100million over five years from Netflix at a steady rate of $20million a year, then you could consider it taken care of. But a source with knowledge of the Netflix deal say it’s never worked out like that. They said: ‘From speaking to someone with knowledge of the deal, it looks like they’ve probably managed to maybe keep $10million-$15million or a touch more purely for themselves over the nearly five years so far – not bad business, but that kind of money doesn’t last long with their lifestyle. Netflix paid for the production of [the tell-all hit documentary series] Harry & Meghan, which would have included a big fee for them. I’d guess [the money Netflix spent on it] works out at $20million all-in.’

But Netflix is going to renew their deal: Yet the expectation remains that their Netflix deal will be renewed. I’m told Ted Sarandos thinks Meghan is a ‘rock star’ and will announce the deal renewal and a third series of With Love, Meghan, around the same time that the second, already filmed season, is screened later this year. It’s likely that Netflix won’t be so keen on briefing about the size of their commitment for the show: It’s probable that they’ll pay Meghan between $3-$5million a year for it.

As Ever’s success: What’s changed is that Meghan now has a ‘sell-out’ personal brand in As Ever, which, notably, is a partnership with Netflix. After selling out her jams, sprinkles and cookie mixes, she has now added a sell-out rose wine, though admittedly she has never revealed the quantities of stock for any of these products. Everything which she puts her name to goes like a rocket and it looks as if the former actress is going to be the chief breadwinner of the Sussex family by a country mile, with Harry financially trailing in her wake. What a turn-around from the situation when they met – when she was a modestly successful TV actress and he was a prince with great prospects.

Prince Harry’s income: He still has two paying jobs, one with Travalyst – a company that promotes sustainable tourism – and one with the coaching company BetterUp, where he is the chief impact officer, which is understood to be the more highly paid. The Atlanta company reports revenues of $215million in 2024, sharply up from $151million in 2023.

[From The Daily Mail]

You get the idea. Alison Boshoff did explain why she was so focused on H&M’s money – it’s because she was idly wondering if the Sussexes were desperate for King Charles’s funding, as in, that was the “real reason” why Harry & Charles’s reps met in London. Anyway, all of the stuff about their first Netflix deal is BS – I honestly believe that since they signed with Netflix, they have been doing very well financially. It also speaks volumes to me that Boshoff left off the tens of millions of dollars Harry made from his memoir, Spare. She also ignored the investments Harry and Meghan have made in other businesses, like Meghan’s investment in Cesta Collective and Clevr Blends. That being said, I find it fascinating that Meghan hasn’t updated her ShopMy page in two months. She really is focused on As Ever right now. I also suspect that she’ll update ShopMy when the second season of With Love, Meghan comes out (surely??), but Meghan sold out three product drops in a row and she must be like “sh-t, I really need to build this company and become a billionaire.” Even in the Mail’s craziest deranger-fiction, Meghan is still super-successful and well-liked by Netflix.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, As Ever’s IG.