Breaking news: Prince Harry and Meghan are not broke. They’re doing more than fine financially and in every other way. They are still supported by Netflix’s executives and managers and Archewell has plenty of projects in the pipeline. All told, Prince Harry likely made mid-eight figures for his wildly successful memoir. He probably has stock options in BetterUp too. Meghan’s investment in Clevr Blends was so smart, especially now that Clevr is being sold in Target. They have so many other side-projects and gigs, and I’ve often noted that they’ve left money on the table (especially Meghan, who could easily be a highly-paid brand ambassador ten times over). And yet, the British papers obsessively count H&M’s money. Two weekends ago, sources swore up and down that palace insiders were increasingly concerned that H&M would become “royals for hire” if and when they “went broke.” Now they’re coming at it from a different angle – the Sussexes need to downsize but they can’t because they’re “obsessed with security.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still “obsessed with security” and don’t want to live in a smaller house, despite living in pricey Montecito, experts have said. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved into their £12million nine-bedroom, 7.4-acre, 18,671-square-foot Montecito mansion in July 2020, where they live with their four-year-old son, Archie, and their two-year-old daughter, Lili.

Discussing reports about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s finances, The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson told The Royal Beat: “They’ve got huge outgoings, security, mortgage, everything. When I’ve spoken to people out there, they’ve said they are obsessed with security, [and] they don’t want to live in a smaller house, they absolutely love the house.

“I think they had a $9 million dollar (£7m) mortgage when they took it out that they still had to pay, and [Harry’s] had his money from Spotify, he’s had his money from Netflix. There is a worry behind the walls of Buckingham Palace of what happens when the money runs out … [and whether] he will at some stage have to find more money from other outlets.”

Royal expert Katie Nicholl added: “I was speaking to someone in Montecito who said you can’t live in Montecito the way they’re living without it costing about $20million dollars (£15.6million) a year.”

The couple are estimated to spend £3million a year on round-the-clock security. They employ a string of private security guards at their Montecito pile and work closely with LA-based security experts TorchStone, using Christopher Sanchez, who was former US President Barack Obama’s ex bodyguard, as well as Christopher Keenan, who protected Hillary Clinton.

However, their income streams could be fast drying up, it is feared, with their $100million Netflix deal due to expire next year and Meghan’s animated series Pearl cancelled by Netflix while in development.

[From The Sun]

They’ve made enough money to pay off their mortgage and pay a $3 million annual security bill for the next ten or twenty years. They’re fine – they’ll have to continue working, of course, but that won’t be a problem. For members of the British media to complain about the Sussexes’ security is, frankly, insane. Harry and Meghan know they’re being targeted by many, many people with a lot of different agendas. The fact that the Sussexes have great security, moved to a discreet and wealthy California enclave and they don’t get pap’d constantly and they don’t beg for attention from the British media has completely blown up the British media’s whole storyline. It’s been four years and they’re still complaining and freaking out.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.