Royal expert claims King Charles gave Harry a 'substantial sum' of money

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they were leaving the royal family in 2020, one of the biggest talking points was the financial implications. In their departure statement, they expressed their desire to be financially independent and detailed their plans to do so on their website.

Now, one royal expert has claimed that King Charles allegedly gave his youngest son a "substantial sum" to live on, in order to support him and his wife Meghan. However, it is unclear when this might have happened.

In his new book Catherine, the Princess of Wales: The Biography, as serialised by the Daily Mail, royal expert Robert Jobson writes: "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. Harry was furious, feeling that he and Meghan were entitled to lavish handouts from 'Pa' in return for agreeing to serve the Crown. In fact, according to close sources, Charles ended up giving Harry a 'substantial sum' and did not cut him off financially."

It's unclear from this excerpt whether the alleged payment happened when Harry and Meghan were still senior working royals, but the quote from Harry mentioned by Robert is one from his memoir Spare, referring to the Sussexes' financial situation post-royal life.

Days ahead of Harry's memoir publication date, Us Weekly published an exclusive excerpt, in which the Duke claimed that his dad told him 'there’s not enough money to go around' as he was already supporting Kate and William financially. In a 2021 interview with CBS, Harry shared that in the aftermath of his and Meghan's royal exit: "My family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford security for us. [I was cut off] in the first quarter of 2020. But I’ve got what my mum left me and without that, we would not have been able to do this."

The Sussexes went on to work on a number of profitable projects, including publishing Spare, as well as their TV and podcasting contracts. More recently, the Duchess has teased the upcoming launch of her consumer lifestyle brand, named American Riviera Orchard, which will sell fine food items and homewares.

Neither the Palace nor the Sussexes have publicly commented on the allegations.