One of the biggest royal scandals of the year has arrived just before Christmas, you guys. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are auctioning themselves off for charity. Or, as the Daily Mail puts it, they’re “auctioning access to themselves” and making people “pay to have dinner with – or access to – a working member of the Royal Family!” What is this crazy pay-to-play scheme? Does it involve King Charles handing out knighthoods in exchange for Fortnum bags full of cash? No. The Sussexes are raising money for their Archewell Foundation, and they’ve auctioned off a dinner.
Prince Harry and Meghan have quietly auctioned access to themselves to the highest bidder as a way of raising money, it can be revealed. It’s said tickets to attend a dinner with the Sussexes go for around $100,000 (£75,000) a plate, as they use the company CharityBuzz to raise funds for their charity Archewell. Up to now the charity has relied on anonymous wealthy donors, which has allowed them to make grants to their selected good causes.
Last night, a spokesman for Archewell confirmed: ‘We have partnered with numerous fundraising partners over the years and CharityBuzz has been one of them.’
A source explained that Archewell had used the company to support a fundraising dinner on World Mental Health Day. CharityBuzz has raised $650 million (£485million) for charity since opening 20 years ago and has run charity events with George Clooney, Beyonce and Sir Paul McCartney.
Paying to have dinner with – or access to – a working member of the Royal Family is seen as a no-no and one of Fergie’s many solecisms was to offer access to the then prince Andrew for cash. However, the Sussexes haven’t been working royals since Megxit.
The access to Harry and Meghan appears not to have been advertised on the company website, so may have been offered privately to ‘high rollers’ who have previously paid to rub shoulders with celebrities. A source said of their association with CharityBuzz: ‘People will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to have dinner with them.’
Current offers include having dinner with Better Call Saul actor Bob Odenkirk for $10,000 (£7,500) and platinum tickets to attend the Grammy awards for $50,000 (£37,000).
Meanwhile, sources reveal change is afoot at the Archewell Foundation, with talk of staff ‘restructuring’. The spokesman commented: ‘Yes, we are making some Archewell changes, and we’ll be sharing exciting developments regarding how we will deliver our philanthropic work moving forward, when we choose to. We look forward to communicating more in due course.’
This story came out just hours before the Sussexes announced that they were renaming their foundation as Archewell Philanthropies. 2025 seemed to be a year of change for Harry and Meghan, and I don’t doubt that they’re restructuring and likely thinking about new approaches for their philanthropic efforts, especially after the Sentebale mess. It’s worth noting that they’ve never hosted a fundraiser for Archewell, and I would assume that most of the foundation’s cash reserves have come from private donors and themselves. Anyway, this is the biggest non-story. Tons of celebrities auction themselves off for charity, it’s one of the easiest ways to fundraise if you have any kind of profile. Harry’s father does it too, only Charles has a long history of handing out honors in exchange for charitable donations.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
-
- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459716, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
-
- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459722, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Meghan,the Duchess of Sussex, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
-
- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459734, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Duke and Duchess of Sussex,Phillip Schermer, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
-
- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459735, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
-
- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459736, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
-
- New York, NY Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attend the Project Healthy Minds 3rd Annual Gala at Spring Studios in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 9 OCTOBER 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the Project Healthy Minds 3rd Annual Gala at Spring Studios in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 9 OCTOBER 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Harry, Duke of Sussex and other celebrities attend the Project Healthy Minds 3rd Annual Gala Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: New York, New York, United States When: 09 Oct 2025 Credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
-
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Harry, Duke of Sussex and other celebrities attend the Project Healthy Minds 3rd Annual Gala Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: New York, New York, United States When: 09 Oct 2025 Credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
The Mail are just gutted that they didn’t have a chance to bid. After stalking the Sussexes for years in Montecito they missed a golden opportunity to get legitimate access. 😆 😆 😆 😆
OMG! I love this! 😂
Is Caroline Graham sitting by a hospital bed in the Philippines grumbling about missing out on a dinner, and access, oh the access… she could have been Tina Brown 2.0 writing stories and opinion pieces for years. But, no, looks like she backed the wrong horse here?
Oh please. High contributors to Charles charities got them an invite to events with him. DM aided an abetted the Sentebale “mess” which Harry did not cause.
Don’t rich people pay to ride with Charles in a coach to Ascot? And didn’t W&K sell seats at their table for Earthshot in Boston?
This is stupid. “Cash for access” assumes the ones getting the money are going to pull some strings or grant other favors to the grantor. This is having dinner with the Sussexes in exchange for a donation to charity. The Sussexes are not going to grant any favors for the money plus it’s donated to Archewell so it has to be accounted for. Once again it’s “Look at this, not that!” with the Britrags.
Fergie got into trouble for this because she was selling access to a working member of the royal family for personal gain. Two private citizens hosting a dinner for charity donations is completely different and totally above board.
Exactly, @Julia. The DM keeps screaming that they are not working royals and then judge them as such. They can’t have their cake and it too. Meghan and Harry aren’t working royals, they are private citizens and can do whatever they want.
Yes, agree @Aimee – I’m sorry, what “working royals”? My head snapped around so fast at this 180. Wasn’t the concept of “non-working royal” created specifically for Harry and Meghan? Wasn’t one of the stated reasons Anne and Edward were added as additional Counsellors of State because Harry (and Andrew) were no longer fulfilling active royal roles? Without Harry and Andrew, the COS were only Camilla, Will, and Beatrice.
Fergie sold access so she could spend the money on herself.
Ford Fiesta tried to sell access at one point, too. Her Late Maj kept Edders and his wife on a much tighter leash after that.
Is this “access” or is it selling tickets to a charity banquet?
Charity which the nasty gutter rats down play.
Joan Rivers contributed much money to the Prince’s Trust. She would mention how Charles invited her to his birthdays and so on and got greeting cards from him each year that she treasured. So she contributed and became “friends” with the then Prince of Wales.
That was very big of Charles, in light of the fact that they claim to “hate” celebrities so much and, I’m told, Americans. /s.
Joan also flattered Charles to the nth degree on talk shows, something he most likely craved.
Why do we think the Clooneys are so prominent in the Trust? They want those photo ops with the king.
Off the top of my head, William and Kate have done this for 100 Women in Hedge Funds or whatever that charity is, for St Andrews both in the US and the UK, for their own Foundation, and for Earthshot. Each and every time a Royal “hosts” such an event that’s the assumption.
Right? And it’s a staple of the charity circuit in California: Have a fashion show with famous attendees wearing beautiful frocks, auction off the dresses. Have a Napa Valley wine auctioning with a “table for 10, special wines, hosted by the winemakers.” Hot bachelor auctions of semi-famous guys and up-and-coming actors for the ladies to bid on for a “date”! There is no limit to the things that wealthy people will pay for at an auction on a night with fancy food, for which they’ve already paid a huge table fee for themselves and their besties, or if they’re on the organizing committee, several tables, all to show off how wealthy they are to all of their friends. It’s a smart move for the Sussexes to raise money, and fits with the local culture
Auctioning off time spent with yourself or with individuals is so flipping common in the US.
Bill Murray did it in Ground Hogs Day, ffs. It shows up in romance novels all the time. It’s a well known and accepted part of American culture. Haven’t actors even auctioned off their plus 1 to red carpets for charity?
“It’s for a good cause”. There aren’t many words that will stop Americans in their tracks, but those used to be the gold standard.
Americans will do wildly outlandish things for a good cause. Always have. It’s like our thing.
Heck – we used to use dunk tanks back in the day. And the more elevated the position of the person getting dunked, the more people lined up for a chance to toss them in the water. To raise money for good causes. Even the most rigid of folks used to set that aside for a “good cause”.
The royals sell things – trips to their homes, honors, access to the royal family/ aristocratic circles – for money for themselves. Not to help anyone or contribute positively to society.
The BRF sell themselves and supposedly deeply meaningful honors for personal gain – while also receiving an obscene amount of money from the taxpayers of their nation. A nation to which the royals do not pay taxes btw.
It’s so ugly and such a contrived and labyrinthine attempt to falsely connect the Sussexes to bad behavior the Royals actively participate in.
The contrast of the two behaviors is actually the real story.
The Sussexes work so hard to better the lives and our world and raise money to expand their ability to touch lives and communities.
The royals participate in spasmodic grifts to enrich themselves while stealing from their “subjects”.
That’s the story. Focus on that.
I don’t see what the problem is, they’re raising money for charity. It’s interesting that the DM really tried it with this one even mentioning working royals in the piece.
LOL. My question would be about the dinner. Is Meghan cooking a WLM meal of my choice or is it a restaurant. Important details to know before bidding.
Well the mail is very jealous so maybe they should put a bid in and see where it goes (right in the trash can) lol lol. Chuckles did this a lot but it’s ok for him and not his son who has more rizz and people want to be with! Sure let’s criticize Harry as is their usual!
Ha ha well the wails wheeled out kids for ‘charity’ whatever that means to them and the entire royal family is desperately riding on the Sussex coat tails so I guess we know where the moneys going. Unless you’re paying for access, titles or really just happy accepting millions in cash, diamonds, sapphires and rubies from dodgy people. Wait! That’s qe2 and Charles! Who knew? I thought it was H and M!
@JAIS, important point, who is cooking? before bidding🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is so funny because the brits and the brit media like to think they are the arbiters of elitism and status when, in fact, they continually demonstrate that they are actually far behind how the wealthy and prominent do things in the rest of the world and to greater societal benefit. And then to pretend that people are doing it to raise money for their private accounts or take bribes.
In cities like New York, LA and San Francisco, prominent people are regularly asked by well-known charities to host dinners at their homes and charge thousands per plate for complete strangers to eagerly attend. They get to see someone else’s home, eat great food and meet other people who are philanthropic. I am a retired Wall Street exec and probably hosted 15 to 20 such dinners over the years that raised a huge amount for charities. You get to screen who attends and as the host you expand your fundraising rolodex with many of the guests. It is how you can get people to pay top dollar for a unique experience instead of filling a ballroom with 500 people at a lesser price.
They do this in England, too, though. The tabloids even cover the parties. William and Kate were hosted in New York by a British advertising executive for a $50,000 a plate fundraising dinner for their foundation. It’s just the Daily Mail unfairly and arguably illegally spinning this against Harry and Meghan.
Exactly this.
My family used to auction off 9 course “murder mystery” dinner parties for charity. With wine pairings.
We changed decor to fit the era, theme. Found accurate music for the same. My family made the food, did the wine pairings etc. My parents would labor over the menu and do so many attempts on the various dishes. It was actually incredibly fun for all of us.
Family friends and us kids who wanted to participate would be rented period accurate “help” costumes. We learned how to serve and remove unobtrusively, replenish wine, we frantically peeled things and hand washed crystal and china for the next course, while sipping wine ourselves and laughing our butts off in the kitchen. After dinner drinks were served in the library or the deck depending on the time of year.
It was something I would come home from college to help with because it was genuinely such a blast.
Those are some of my best memories with my parents.
It benefits everyone. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to explore some amazing memories.
That sounds very creative, and so much fun!
Not to mention the fact that this is a major fund-raising strategy for politicians- especially presidential candidates.
@tamsin, you’ve just given them their next big talking point….Meghan is OBVIOUSLY going to run for president now. /s
I don’t believe the stories in the Daily Mail. Is there any confirmation from a credible source? I don’t think it’s a big deal, but it seems strange to me because it’s not mentioned anywhere. They talk about a “private” sale. That still seems strange to me.