I suspect Harry will experience a tough adjustment to civilian life outside of the cocoon of the royal family. Hopefully, the queen will keep a door open for his return.
I would think giving up the only lifestyle one has ever known would be extremely challenging. There are likely things about his life he isn’t even consciously aware are positives that he will miss. He may be focusing on being done with the negatives without even realizing that he is giving up things that have made his life very rewarding.
Meghan, on the other hand, knows what life is like on the other side.
I would assume (hope) he still gets some monetary support from dad if only for security costs. Harry was born into the royal life and therefore being a public figure. He didn’t choose it. With it comes legitimate security needs for his family and him.
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Some of the funding of the royals is private so we may well never know what support is provided to them by family.
Actually, by media accounts, the vast majority is private coming from Charles’ own assets.
His identity.
If you go to their website, they laid out quite a bit of info when they made the announcement. They have said they want to be financially independent from the taxpayers. Not so much Charles! So they renounced the amount that was coming directly from the public to pay for their staff and travels and events that were in support of the Crown. That’s what is estimated to be 5% of their yearly income. The other 95% has come from Charles as an allowance and pays for their clothing and personal expenses. I don’t think they actually want to be financially independent of Charles-that is basically walking away from a huge inheritance. And even if the British taxpayers don’t want Charles to support them in any way-that money is not really up for discussion-it’s up to Charles. I also don’t think the Queen/Charles will go the Fergie route with the Sussexes and just wash their hands of them. Harry was born a prince. Fergie was born the daughter of an army man. Part of the problem was that Fergie was cast out with what some (She!) considered in an insufficient settlement - and she wanted to keep the lifestyle hence the REALLY ill-advised friendships with sketchy rich people like Jeffery Epstein. Sketchy billionaires who loaned her money, and private jets, and vacation homes in return for whatever “influence” she could give them with Andrew and the palace. I think the Queen and Charles learned a lot from that as Fergie continually embarrassed them. I think they will work hard to find a way for Harry to be more independent but also be protected from predators like Epstein. I am not a huge fan of Prince Harry-but there is a weird darned if they do/darned if they don’t aspect to all of this. I’m all for them finding some independence and a life as something other than “the spare” (who is now 6th or 7th in line for the throne-really will never happen) but they are going to have to be careful about their associates.
@Lennon makes some good points.
I don’t understand what “failure” means in this case. Living a quiet life in Canada with about 30M in assets throwing off 900k/yr in disposable income with the rest re-invested? Sign me up for that kind of failure!
I expect the Queen or Charles to continue covering their security detail, and I personally wouldn’t consider that a “favor”. Nobody wants to see their child or grandchild targeted and assaulted simply because they were born into the family tree, regardless of whether or not that child wants to be in the family business. Charles and the Queen own that responsibility as the patriarchs, parent, and grandparent.
Outside of security costs, 900k/yr is plenty of money for a luxury lifestyle.
Luxury yes, royal no. The Cambridge nanny makes 100k, I would expect the same for Sussex. Harry has never done without a valet, cook, maid and laundress at the bare minimum, even if he forfeits the other servants. Any house will require a gardener or other upkeep. They each need a private secretary to keep up with their mail, engagements, schedules and press releases. I think staff costs will easily exceed 1 million.
And they have to pay taxes now.
Anyway, it sounds like their “independence” is not “going out in the real world and make it on our own”, rather live off on handouts from the dad? Why then are we applauding their actions? We have hundreds living off their parents in Manhattan. One of them killed his father. I don’t disapprove. It’s none of my business and many people do it.
Harry spent 10 years in the army, including a tour in Afghanistan until he was outed. I doubt he had a valet, cook, maid or laundress then & he has often said the time he spent in the army was the time he enjoyed most because he could just be himself.
I don’t know how he can do it, but I hope Harry finds that. I doubt it’s possible, but if Harry could get some sort of job with the Canadian military or in another field in which he could use his skills, e.g., flying helicopters for medical transports and rescues, I think it would be good for him. No, it wouldn’t be enough to support him financially, but I think he would gain respect and be happier.
Meghan could do voice over work, as she’s doing for Disney. While her Disney fee is being donated, in the future she might be able to do this as a profession–especially if her Disney venture proves she can do it. Meghan didn’t grow up in a wealthy family and while she clearly enjoys mingling with celebrities, I doubt she’ll have any problem living without several servants.
The Daily Mail’s coverage is truly despicable right now–it’s clearly retaliation for being sued. It seems determined to run as many articles criticizing her as possible. Thomas Markle has become their “Father of the Year,” which is laughable. They keep saying Markle only made her letter public because of what her friends said about him—there’s NO mention of how much money he got for doing so or about the money he got for other interviews. The comments are vicious. Other newspapers and media are running stories that aren’t much better. I can’t blame Meghan for getting out of UK while this is going on.
If she wins the lawsuit and it’s found that she IS entitled to some privacy and ESPECIALLY if she gets whopping damages, it will be much easier for them to return to the UK.
Quite seriously, I don’t get the “I feel so sorry for the Queen” vibe. It is the Queen that left photos of them out of her Christmas address. Do you think she let them know in advance she was going to do that? Seriously…I’m a mom and a grandmother and if I ever publicly embarrassed any family members like that, I would EXPECT them to cut down on contact with me. And if William and Charles were parties to her decision to do that, well…I’d be unhappy with them if I were M or H.
Some of the rules M is in trouble for violating are preposterous. It’s apparently a rule that no member of the BRF can leave the UK during a pregnancy!!!So, when she announced her pregnancy during a foreign tour, she was criticized. And her baby shower was also criticized-not only was it seen as tacky to have one, BUT she broke royal protocol again by leaving the UK again during a pregnancy. The child she was carrying is 7th in line to the throne so the restrictions make no sense–if in fact they make sense for anyone.
As I said before, I just laugh at the Brits acting as if the BRF is all “happy families.” Look at the history of the “spares.” Princess Margaret was the spare until her sister had children. Her adult life was mostly unhappy, she was constantly in the tabloids–and denounced in parliament–and spent as much time as she could in Mustique, i.e., out of the UK. Based solely on having watched the entirety of his interview, IMO, Andrew is morally bankrupt. (When the former royal photographer, who has been on TV denouncing Meghan had Andrew’s “success” as a “spare” pointed out to him, he made the preposterous statement that Harry would never turn into Andrew because “he’s more popular” with the British public.)
I really do with M and H the best figuring all this out and hope they succeed.
[quote=“jonri, post:312, topic:2079046”]
I think wayyy too much has been made of this. It is clearly the line of succession. Many royal family members were “left out”, not just Harry and Meghan - other children, other grandchildren of the queen.
Which ones? I understood Andrew, H &M were the only ones not included.
ETA: Mea culpa!! Looks like you’re much closer to the truth than I was. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a30315093/queen-elizabeth-christmas-speech-photos-2019/
I know that the Daily Mail isn’t the most reputable British publication, but they usually have great photo coverage of the royals and this article is worthwhile. Rebecca English is making the case that Harry longed for a more normal life prior to meeting and marrying MM. I think this is a very complex situation and many have been quick to point the finger at one facet as being the deal breaker (yes, I’m talking about you, Gayle King, and how you treated a guest on CBSTM rudely earlier this week. It doesn’t all come down to MM being a victim of racism even though she has been treated poorly by some).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7896645/REBECCA-ENGLISH-reveals-touching-insight-Prince-Harrys-personality.html
I read that article also @2VU0609 and also thought it was very interesting
Interesting article. But I’m confused as to why Harry scowled at the author when she congratulated him on the pregnancy.
Huh??? How is this remotely relevant, either to H and M or even to young adults in Manhattan who are “living off their parents”?
H & M want to live as normal a life as can be possible given the family into which H was born. Why should he live a life that doesn’t interest/suit him? He is not going to be king. Lots of people choose not to go into the family business. And if his family is loaded & has money to give to him, why is that wrong? While that certainly isn’t my own experience, I am aware that there have been many people in many walks of life that have benefited from family money. I wish H & M a good and happy life.
There is a meme going around with Yoko and MM…“I broke up the Beatles” - “Hold My Beer”. I find it SO misogynist.