Royal Money Clash: A King Charles Decision Found Prince Harry 'Furious' Over Meghan Markle's Role in the Monarchy
Prince Harry was reportedly 'furious' when then-Prince Charles claimed he couldn't pay for Duke and Meghan Markle's lifestyle, since he was already funding William and Kate.
During the run-up to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's May 2018 wedding, the fifth in line to the throne revealed how money issues reared their ugly head and helped kick off an epic royal feud.
"Harry, however, later claimed that his father told him there was 'not enough money to go around' for Meghan, because he was already having to pay for William and Catherine," royal author Robert Jobson tellingly revealed in his new book, Catherine, the Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen.
This decision from then-Prince of Wales, Charles, apparently was not made lightly or with ill-intent, as Jobson details in his new tome.
"At the outset, Charles had made a concerted effort to form a relationship with Harry's fiancée," he added. "'She is so intelligent and so nice,' he said. 'She makes Harry happy. We could not like her more,'" the book continued. When the issue of money reportedly came up, the niceties immediately went out of the palace window.
"Harry was furious — feeling that he and Meghan were entitled to lavish handouts from 'Pa' in return for agreeing to serve the Crown," Jobson further observed.
At the time, Prince Charles was using his vast Duchy of Cornwall estate income to fund not only his legendarily lavish lifestyle, but also then-Duchess Camilla's and the entire Cambridge branch of the family, which included William, Kate, and their children. The king-in-waiting had also been funding Harry's household for years as well.
At the height of "Megxit" in early 2020, and reportedly for the final time, His Royal Highness allocated 4.7 million pounds from the Duchy at the start of that year for both couples and their respective households. A large sum of the Sussex cut likely went to relocation expenses across the world to Montecito, Calif.
On September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died, and King Charles III instantly reigned. Also at the moment of Her late Majesty's death, Prince William became the Duke of Cornwall and inherited the lucrative Duchy from his father. Upon the King's shocking cancer diagnosis in early February, father and rebel son were reunited, with Meghan, nowhere to be seen. But the reunion did not produce the "reconciliation hopes" of many.
"The brothers are barely speaking so the idea of William wanting Harry to come back and represent the firm is both laughable and unthinkable," a royal insider dished in March. "The advice was for Harry to leave it a while and come to see his father in Sandringham while he was recuperating, but there was a big rush for Harry to come and see his father. It was all very last minute hence why the meeting was so short."
There was no mention of Prince William at that visit, who is believed to have made it a point to stay far away during the February 6, 45-minute (or 12-minute) reunion.
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Daily Express reported on excerpts from Jobson's book.
