‘Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have pledged to become ‘financially independent’ – but critics say this is a fallacy while they demand taxpayer-funded security, travel, accommodation and £2.3million each year from his father’s royal estate.
The plan has been called ‘ill thought through’ because by keeping their titles, royal duties, Windsor home and lavish lifestyle they will continue to drain public funds – even if they move to California or Canada.
The couple have launched a new website, registered in March 2019 and developed secretly in Toronto, and it announced their desire to achieve ‘financial independence’ – but critics have branded this impossible.
Prince Charles’ £1.2billion Duchy of Cornwall estate pays his youngest son around £2.3million-a-year and Harry and Meghan said last night it covers 95 per cent of their office expenditure.
But in the same statement they declared they no longer need any of £82million-a-year Sovereign Grant – the money taxpayers allocated by the Queen to fund the royal family – claiming it covers the remaining five per cent.
However, based on his father’s seven-figure donation, the figures simply don’t add up. And it means they are claiming their portion of the Sovereign Grant amounts to just £100,000, significantly less than the £2million Harry and Meghan have been estimated to receive.
Prince Charles privately owns the Duchy of Cornwall estate – but it is considered a public asset because it has been gifted to the heir to the throne by every British monarch since 1337. Its special royal status also gives Charles an exemption from corporation tax and capital gains tax – but he voluntarily pays around £4.8million in annual income tax.’
