When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched their new YouTube channel, I honestly thought it was a good idea. My argument is that every royal household should have their own YouTube channel, where they can communicate with the public, highlight the causes, and provide exclusive content of their events. Of course, I’m not sure William and Kate will actually do all of that, nor will they go Full Vlogger and create cutesy “What’s In My Bag” videos. This is basically just more keen busywork for W&K, with a full-time social media staff being paid to embiggen the Keens in poorly edited videos. There’s also the matter of the revenue they’ll make from YouTube ads, which could apparently be something like £12,000 a month.
Prince William and Kate Middleton could soon be cashing in after financial experts predicted they’d make an extra £12,000 a month through social media. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched their own YouTube channel earlier this month and have already attracted over half a million subscribers. Over 3.3 million people around the world watched their debut video on the site.
Now research carried out by social media analysers has estimated they could pull as much as an additional £11,725 ($16,500) through YouTube.
Commenting on the couple’s new venture, personal finance expert at Money.co.uk Salman Haqqi said: “It’s really great to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge venturing into new social mediums to not only help elevate their campaigns and projects, but also give fans a chance to get a closer look into their lives as their popularity grows. YouTube is fast becoming one of the most effective social platforms worldwide as it connects, communicates, and reaches out to young people.
“With social media trolls and mainstream media producing a constant stream of headlines and stories about the royals, having their own social media platforms will help them regain control of their narrative and what the public sees. Although the couple will be using their platform to bring attention to their projects and causes, it’s no secret that YouTubers make big money. With forecasts predicting an estimated earning of £9,700 on the higher scale, the couple could potentially use their YouTube revenue on social campaigns, current projects and/or charity organizations.”
[From The Daily Mirror & The Express]
I mean, it’s funny that Will and Kate are being praised and embiggened for being budget-ass vloggers, but again, are they going to keep the revenue? Isn’t that terribly unroyal and completely gauche? Didn’t Harry and Meghan get told repeatedly that they could not be full-time royals and seek income from anything like this? Keep your eye on this, and whether or not we hear about Will and Kate donating their vlogging money. I doubt it. But I also doubt they’ll spend all of their vlogging money on buttons and wiglets. I bet they’ll just fold their YouTube income into their office somehow, and it will go towards paying their social media team.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, YouTube screencaps, social media.
But, but …I thought tax-payer funded royals couldn’t earn private income? I guess that rule was only for the Sussexes?
This sounds like an income created by their YouTube channel using their titles and royal status!!! The Queen MUST take away their titles IMMEDIATELY.
funny how it doesn’t work when the boot is on the other foot, eh?
I like how they are JUST getting around to the fact that you tube is a “fast growing” platform to boost sm presence. Like yeah. Since 2013.
To boost sm presence is a bit of a dumb argument since they have a bigger reach on instagram with their 12 million followers.
I know Victoria, this made me laugh.
Do you mean the bots they bought for Instagram? Yeah, no. They need all the help the can get.
Eh, do any of us think these two and their staff are going to work hard at this? Successful YouTubers created multiple pieces of content daily.
How can they go on YouTube when they’ve never created at internet…. :))
This is a non story.
Just when you think that their double standards couldn’t be any more obvious, they double down.
Its actually atrocious and you won’t hear a peep from the uk press/morning shows nor the uk public who are very much still paying for this couple. Even so, if senior royals are allowed to make money, what exactly is the purpose of the sovereign grant then?
Omg. How tacky. Royals in the uk making bank off their titles and the crown? Strip them of their titles immediately. Oh my bad, they are all white English roses, the right type of British royal.
How DARE they earn any money from their work!! How gauche!! How unroyal!! 🙄
12000 pounds… Lol
It’ll barely pay for one of Keen Guevara’s bespoke-buttoned coat dress!
@The OG Jan – That was my thought as well: Kate will use it to buy a blue buttony coat dress or two!
Great minds, etc., ClaireB, great minds… 😄
…or twenty little cheapo button downs so she can maintain the pretense that she “relates to the people.” Interesting how every single designer she’s ever supported has gone under. I think Catherine Walker is the only one who didn’t, but she was dressing Diana, and has a strong background. Every other dress Kate wears is suddenly “sold out,” then a couple months later you hear of that designer going under. Some “royal seal” that turned out to be….
“YouTube is fast becoming…”?! It is already effective and has been for years. My two kids get almost all of their media of any kind from YouTube. That and TikTok, of course. Now, if the Cambridge’s got into TikTok? Then I’d be really impressed.
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I would *KILL* for a Sussex TikTok!
But will there really be that many people watching their channel for them to make that kind of revenue? The Keenbridges are just not that interesting to millennials, gen z, and so on, especially to sit through ads.
No, they would need to maintain a consistent uploading schedule, and maintain high engagement. Their views have plummeted since the first video. And will continue to do so if they keep repackaging old content. Honestly, they probably WOULD be better off if they were doing content like “what’s in my bag”.
I’m pretty sure YouTube won’t be cutting checks for buying followers either. They can’t fake the funk on this one.
ETA: This will die out like the rest of their endeavors. Because being a successful YouTube star takes WORK. They work their ASSES off, sometimes just for small change. And the smart ones leverage it for sponsorships and brand deals which they clearly think is gauche.
They have a built-in audience of journalists, bloggers, and fans who will provide some views. But I’m not convinced that they can fudge the numbers as they’ve done with their Instagram account.
A cursory glance shows that they only have 500k subscribers which is abysmal for public figures of their stature.
I am surprised they even have 500K subscribers due to their dismal content.
500k subscribers is really low considering how many followers they have on IG and Twitter. But at the same time, why do I need to subscribe, bc they post on IG every time they put something up on youtube, lol. I dont need to subscribe.
I should admit here that the only account I subscribe to on YT is Randy Rainbow lol.
When I looked maybe a week ago, subs were hovering around 475K. Looks like they’ve got as many as they’re going to, unless they come up with something interesting enough to go viral. Like an explicit ‘rose gardening’ tape.
Hmmmm. I think I just got the symbolism of William’s tiny novelty watering cans.
Exactly. What’ll happen is that folks will wait for the RRs to publicize a new video in the media, and then those who are interested will head to it. Or the online version of newspapers will embed the video in their pages, and the stans will see it there. No way is anyone going to head to YT just to look for the Keens.
Lol. That’s not even enough money to keep Waity in buttons.
I came here to say this, LOL
If they’re getting ad revenue they should donate the income, end of. I know some people will be “its only 12k max who cares?” but when you’re taking millions a year from the duchies/taxpayers then you shouldn’t be pocketing 12k.
I’m sure they’ll donate it (insert eye roll here).
Just like TOB “donated” his salary from his co-pilot job (weren’t we were *told* we *were* going to hear which charity, but that was *never* released). Funnily enough, HE WAS A PART-TIME WORKING ROYAL at the time of that job, EARNING MONEY, and that was *perfectly* acceptable, wasn’t it?
He did donate his Salary. To himself. After it sat for over a year in a private account collecting interest he donated it to his royal foundation. Which pays for vacations and parties. It has yet to do anything notable for charities.
They’re not making that money with that amount of viewership… Not happening. Just do the numbers. There’s a ton of sites that calculate this. The reality is more sad and meager.
Which is why I used “if”
From what I’ve heard from other vloggers the real money on YouTube comes from brand sponsorships, not just views. And $12k monthly would be over a million per year, no way they make that much with out ads and sponsors. Ehem, is that really “Royal”? Tut tut!
12K*12=144,000. That might pay their youtube staff salaries–royals are notorious cheapskates when it comes to payroll.
You’re right Ianne, math was never my strong suit, lol. But I stand by what I said about making money on YouTube, all the videos I’ve seen say even $60-100k is really good for YouTube and outside the norm. Its also with constant content uploading, ads and sponsorships.
MsIam is correct in that ad revenue is no longer as lucrative for YouTubers as it use to be. It hasn’t been since 2016 or 2017. There are content creators with far more subscribers and video views than the Cambridges who struggle to pull $12K a month on ad revenue alone and would probably cease to keep operating without sponsorships. This $12K nonsense is just another embiggening opportunity to make the Cambridges look more relevant and influential than they really are.
Charles probably pays their social media team so I’m sure K&W won’t be giving up the money to them. I’m sure they will quietly do what Andrew did with Pitch at the Palace; pocket the money. Funny that over 3.3 mil watched but only over half a million signed up. Are those good statistics?
What I don’t get is why are royal reporters and commentators behaving like this is their first time on social media. Some might say that Instagram is a better medium than YouTube to garner attention. I think this proves that their engagement on twitter and Instagram is not what they would like it to be so they’ve decided to try YouTube. I could be wrong but I think so far they’ve only uploaded audio clips of Kate’s conversations with people from the Hold still project. That’s not good enough given the hype about them joining YouTube.
How many subscribers do they have? I keep saying that they have a far bigger reach on instagram than on youtube. What extra content are they going to provide that won’t be on twitter or instagram? The keens could utilize their youtube but they would have to do it wisely. And i doubt anything that will actually pull an audience will be on youtube.
But rumor has it, a lot of those IG followers were bought bots to compete with Sussex Royal. Btw their follower count grew everytime SR follower account grew. All of a sudden it is stagnant.
that pie chart always makes me laugh. It looks like “My First Pie Chart” made by primary school kids.
“Look, Ma, I’m working! I’m working!”
12,000 pounds a month? Ahem. Since they’re so competitive, down do they think that looks next to the Sussexes Netflix/Spotify deals? And when the Oprah series drops, how will their youtube videos look in comparison? I can’t wait for the mash-ups. If Will-di Amin was embarrassed by being out-machoed by Harry after the James Corden military obstacle course, he’s going to be seriously incandescent for the near future.
The pie chart is never not hilarious. Lol
Megflix is shook.
I LOVE this. Now i can show this to everybody who wants to call h&m tacky for “exploiting” their royal status. Every single person who argued to me that earning money as a royal was not done. Lmao. Im going to shove this in their faces
I know that’s a lot of money to most people, but when I read the estimated money involved and thought about H&M’s recently announced partnerships, I thought “Oh, how cute, bless the Keens’ cold little hearts.”
The YouTube channel is an opportunity to bring back the focus to the different charities they champion. With the tabloids the focus is always on the outfits of Kate or the comparison between the Cambridges and the Sussexes. They could do all kind of informative videos about the charities.
Sure, they could do, but will they? I remember one organization said right out that Kate hadn’t shown up in something like 7 years. Lol.
Nope. They will waste the opportunity. Innovative ideas are not their thing. They are going to continue to do the same thing they’ve always done and just upload it to YouTube.
So true, Woke! They could do such wonderful things with this channel! Highlight a new charity every week – post different videos and events from the charities to give them lots of coverage and interest the entire week. Make a quick 5 min video per day to introduce the day’s charity video. How easy and how wonderful for each charity!
And I think others on here would have so many better ideas than mine, but the Keens will take the path of least resistance, as they have always done.
Pocket money for new coats. Wait, Charles pays for those. Botox then.
Maybe this sounds crazy, maybe not. But could it be that charles is seriously slimming w&k budget? Like the allowance that they are getting will be less? Because, lets be real, they are not going to donate this money.
“It’s really great to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge venturing into new social mediums to not only help elevate their campaigns and projects, but also give fans a chance to get a closer look into their lives”
Oh really?!
Is that so?!
My my my how the tune has changed from 2 years ago!
The double standards are SHAMELESS.
Are they going to have Patreon subscribers too?
Or sponsors:
“This video is brought to you by Audible. When you want to read about royal scandal, choose Audible!”
“This video is brought to you by Skillshare! Want to learn how to make a pie chart like Kate’s? Take the class, “Powerpoint for Dummies!” It’s the class Kate took before embarking on her Early Years Initiative! You too can pretend to work just like she does!
Well, the operative word is “could.” The YouTubers who make “big money” work really hard to produce content every day. I think it’s great that W&K want to control their narrative, everyone should be able to do that, but their narrative is really boring and the crap the tabloids write is much more interesting.
They should write their narrative and get rid of the RR but how will the tabs react to that? Not favorable i assume. Also, engagements are cute and all. But videos about visiting a farm for children or a foodbank is not going to do the numbers they think it will pull.
I have been waiting for this to be brought up!
Don’t you need content to generate income? They barely work.
Making money off their titles must have blindsided the queen. Sorry, you cannot be half in so strip them of titles and military honors.
I wonder if all those little videos are going to count towards their end of the year numbers?
If so I would definitely see how they got a taste for zoom video engagements during the pandemic and thought it was a good idea.
The Keens are funded by the tax payer, in exchange that they serve the public. If they are profiting from doing royal engagements then any ad revenue should go to the charities. Of course we know the Keens will pocket the money, they are selfish beyond belief. If they want to make YouTube money, then they should give back their tax money. Be we all know the media won’t say sh*t about this.
Whoever advised them that a youtube channel was a good idea has no concept of how google’s algorithms work, has no concept of how people use these channels and the work it involves to maintain a good youtube channel.
They are going to come to regret this move. This cheapens whatever brand they have. Further, they are too lazy to produce the constant new content a youtube channel requires. Reposting of their little weekly outings is not going to cut it.
They have no control over what commercials are shown on their channel, every site that talks about them will also be pulled up, Conspiracy sites, parody sites, good, bad, and indifferent. They better fasten their seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Willie and Keen don’t know how to modernise without looking cheap. Harry and Meghan are forward thinking and always 10 steps ahead of the game. The only difference is is that they know how to progress in a stylistic and sophisticated way. The Keens don’t know how to do this without looking ridiculous. I’m thinking of zoom bingo with pensioners and videos with cookies on a bicycle. The Keens used to have an air of mystery about them, but those days are over.
Well, I don’t know, there is certainly mystery there.
It’s just becoming more and more “WTF. What were they thinking?! What is going ON at KP?” as the years wear on.
William will quickly become bored with having to show up to film new content. He’ll just expect the videographer to make something out of all the stuff they already have. Kate won’t be able to show up that often either, because her botox and fillers would have to be just right so her filming window will be limited. They may post new videos but it won’t be content that viewers will be able to watch until the end before they click off out of boredom. And have they posted anything new since the debut? (I can’t be bothered to go and check). If not, we can see where this is going.
How are they making money from ad revenue if they don’t have adverts on their videos?
There are other ways to make money on YouTube by using “merch shelf”, channel memberships and YouTube Premium Revenue (Get part of a YouTube Premium subscriber’s subscription fee when they watch your content.).
ah I see, thank you!
The BRF has had an official YouTube channel for years. No mention of them making money or profiting off it. Me thinks some tabloid has decided to come at W&K sideways through this article.
That’s a good point, nota.
Youtube was very profitable around 2008-2013ish maybe? For the last several years, many of the big name Youtubers have struggled to make money on the platform due to the ever changing algorithm. Being part of the Youtube Partner Program used to be very elite, but now people struggle to make ends meet. It’s why so many Youtube channels have launched Patreons, why many have pivoted to Instagram and TikTok and do a lot of sponsored content. Unfortunately, Youtubers were very short-sighted when they decided to become Youtubers. No platform stays popular forever. Vine lasted only a few years, Snapchat does not dominate like it used to, and who knows where Tiktok will be in a few years. Being an influencer means staying on top of social media trends. Kate and William are like 10 years behind.
Could you see if the Cambridges started a TikTok lol.
To be fair, in this day and age, it doesn’t make sense to rely on one revenue stream as a content creator. The goal is to build a brand and a loyal audience that will follow you.
I’ll give an example. I follow UK blogger, Lydia Millen. Her content is luxury fashion and beauty. And since she bought a new house, she also dabbles in decor and lifestyle.
Her YouTube is not her only revenue stream. She also has a blog, she’s active on Instagram, regularly does sponsored content, does local fashion and beauty online and print advertising campaigns, just launched her own tanning kit and does fashion and beauty edits for established UK brands. She’s got her fingers in a bunch of pies because she’s smart.
A lot of the YouTubers I follow have side gigs going. Vegan food bloggers publishing cookbooks, LA based bloggers doing podcasts, beauty bloggers launching their own make up lines or collaborating with brands.
It’s the only way to go.
@ Snuffles. Well, that means work and we know how hardworking the Keens are. O Jeez, what were the PR managers thinking. Sounds like they are throwing everything at the wall and hopes something sticks. Not a good strategy.
Just use the money to pay a local crew and ask them to go visit and film their patronages.
Then willie and kate can narrate about their causes.
Simple easy and only 30 minutes work each week.
If only they have a working brains to think this through.
The Cambridge hypocrites had better donate every penny they receive from youtube to charity. Well, they would – if they actually cared.
I’m sorry – I can’t get past the pie chart. Who are these 76% of people that don’t think the first 5 years of a kids life are important? Is it ages 35-40 when you learn to Keen are the most important? Tweak the stats much?
why is that info even on a pie chart to begin with? What’s the point that’s being made? Why not just plain old sentences? It’s 2 pieces of general information–those aren’t even specific date points.
Why a pie? Why????
Oh, I think it should have been exploded 3-D with lots of colored patterns and different fonts for each statistic.
you still need some data though
@ Eurydice. You are right. Whoever did the charts, amateur hour right there.
Kate’s Big Five Questions survey results interpretation was more BONKERS than the First Amendment. Here is the question to which the pie chart is referring: Which period of a child and young person’s life is the most important for health and happiness in adulthood?
From the report: “Just one in four (24%) participants recognise the specific importance of the first five years for providing lifelong health and happiness. Instead, most participants (57%) perceive all periods of a child’s life to be important for health and
happiness in adulthood.”
You had to choose 0-5 as the most important–you couldn’t give credence to the reality that abuse, poverty, disease, relocation, political upheaval, divorce, etc. could affect a child’s future adult happiness after five years old. (Even though her own husband tragically lost his mother at 15!) If you thought of life more realistically, you would choose all years were important. But Kate only wants to do photo calls with under 5s, so she packaged the results to make it seem like the respondents didn’t know about the “specific importance” of 0-5 and she had spent 9 years discovering this gap in the UK public’s perceptions of child-raising. BONKERS.
Holy crap, I didn’t realize the joke pie chat was somehow even worse than it looked 😳.
Also if like to start a small pool of money to pay for bots to endlessly comment “Where are they donating this YouTube money?” In every comment section their channel is mentioned. Just to infinity to see how they respond.
Well, if the chart said 3% really never gave it any thought and 97% knew early years are critical, then it would look just like the vanity project it is.
I’m here to say that satin shirt is the worst piece ever to be in anyone’s wardrobe – that collar screams CEO clown carreer. The static on there seems to be horrible, the ironing is a catastrophy. And that 2 piece pie chart makes me giggle everytime I see it. Classic now.
I would love to see the Retained Earnings Statement from a reputable CPA. I will not hold my breath.
I have no doubt the Cambridges will pull a “Donald Trump.” In other words, saying you’ll donate money to a charity and then not doing it, leaving people the impression for years or forever that you actually carried through.
It seems they are interested in making money.
Honestly, I hope this is a success for them. Anything to keep the B[owel] M[ovement] occupied and off M&H’s backs.
This is also just hillarious…given the Sussex are locking in multi-million dollar deals and these two are out here with their 12,000 pounds per month. Lol ba-hahahahahhaha