Meghan and Harry shoot themselves in foot as Queen ‘doing well’ out of Sussex payments

Meghan and Harry: Host on 'poor investment' Frogmore Cottage


When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior royals and moved to the US, they agreed to pay back the £2.4million they took from the Crown to renovate the Windsor home. However, they also agreed to pay rent on the place, so that they could use it as their UK base. Harry stayed there during his isolation period after flying in from the US ahead of the Princess Diana statue unveiling.

The Sussexes are paying rent at market rate, although it has not been released exactly how much that is.

One royal expert has argued the Queen is “doing well” out of this arrangement, because she would not normally be renting out the royal residence.


Mr Myers said: “It seemed to be quite a good deal for the Queen, because she’s getting market rate on a royal residence that probably ‒ well, definitely ‒ wouldn’t have been rented out otherwise.”

His comments came after the Sovereign Grant annual report was released and it was seen that the Royal Family took in less than half of their usual earnings in the financial year 2020-21.

This was in large part due to a ban on visitors to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, as well as other estates.

During the 2019-2021 financial year, the Palace’s income was £20.2million, which was reduced to £9.4million the following year, a reduction of 53 percent.

Buckingham Palace said the loss was “largely reflecting the impact of COVID-19 on the ability of the Royal Collection Trust to open the Royal Palaces for visitors”.

What’s more, the Royal Household’s costs also increased, resulting in a total net expenditure of £87.5million, a 26 percent increase compared to the previous year.

However, the Sovereign Grant also increased from £82.4million last year to £85.9million in 2021/2021.

That leaves £1.6million unaccounted for, which was covered by the Sovereign Grant Reserves.

Mr Myers argued that the financial hole would have been “more damaged” if Meghan and Harry had not paid back the £2.4million they took to renovate Frogmore Cottage.

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He said: “It would probably have been more damaged, the financial hole, if it had not been for Meghan and Harry repaying the money for Frogmore Cottage.

“There was an awful lot of rambling at the time and last week about what they had actually agreed to return ‒ of course everyone remembers the fanfare of the £2.4 million that had been spent refurbishing their official home, Frogmore Cottage, in the shadow of Windsor Castle.

“Harry is actually staying there at the moment because he has flown back to isolate before the big event tomorrow.

“However, we do understand they have paid that back and they are paying rent payment on that house as well, which we still don’t know what those payments are.”

Meghan and Harry: Frogmore 'base in Britain' says expert

He added: “It’s always a bit of a tricky business when you get into royal finances because, as transparent as they think they are, I don’t think it’s as transparent as a set of accounts laid out in front of you and accounted for every penny.”

The royal commentators went on to discuss another part of the Sovereign Grant report, which was the role of diversity in the Royal Household.

The report revealed that 8.5 percent of staff are from ethnic minority backgrounds, the first time such data has ever been gathered.

The Palace admitted that it “must do more” to improve that statistic.

Mr Myers said a Palace source admitted that they are not where they need to be and a commitment was made to get that number to 10 percent by the end of next year.

The royal editor outlined how important this discussion is at the moment, especially after Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey and how they shed a light on their experience as a mixed race couple in the Royal Family.

The Sussexes accused a member of the Royal Family of questioning how dark their unborn child’s skin might be, although the Palace itself said “recollections may vary” to do with that and other accusations levelled at them.

However, The Firm has acknowledged that the issue of the level of diversity within the royal household is one they do need to tackle.


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