Inside Meghan and Harry’s ultra luxe lifestyle – and the millions needed to fund it

The Sussexes have chosen the Cotswolds as their new UK base – and life in the rural idyll doesn’t come cheap. Along with the lifestyle the area demands, the couple are covering the costs of maintaining homes on multiple continents, and a bruising legal payout. These mega-bills may in part be covered by the inheritance bestowed upon the prince following his relatives’ passing, says Robert Hardman, author of Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story. “Harry’s got some money from Diana, he’s got a bit of money from the Queen Mother. We don’t know exactly how much, but put together it’s in the single, possibly low, tens of millions.” When it comes to new income courtesy of The Royals, however, the well has run dry. Prince Harry, now 41, admitted in his bestselling memoir, Spare, that he had been cut off financially by his father around the time he left the UK. He recognised the “absurdity” of only becoming financially independent in his mid-30s, which he called a “surreal state, this unending Truman Show in which I almost never carried money, never owned a car, never carried a house key, never once ordered anything online, never received a single box from Amazon, almost never travelled on the Underground”. Shorts In the past six years, however, his financial responsibilities have grown somewhat larger. Here’s the bill the Sussexes may be looking at now that they’re back in Britain: The Houses According to estimates, the 7.38-acre Chateau of Riven Rock, which the Sussexes bought for $14.65m in 2020, will demand as much as $600,000 a year in mortgage costs. Santa Barbara County records show the Sussexes’ company, Rockbridge LLC, bought the 7.38-acre estate for £10.81million [$14.65m] in June 2020. It has been reported that the company took out a £7.03million [$9.52m] loan from City National Bank, with an adjustable-rate mortgage starting at 2.49 percent. They also paid out around £111,000 [$149,668] in property taxes in 2025. The nine-bedroom Mediterranean-style mansion in Montecito, California, has a swimming pool and tennis court, cinema, sauna, gym and rose gardens, which – given that they have left their chickens on the other side of the Atlantic – will add a significant sum via maintenance, insurance and staffing. Then, there is the home they bought in Comporta – ‘the Hamptons of Europe’ – for a reported £6.3m in 2023, plus the costs of their new Cotswolds home (though they are currently reported to be staying at the home of a friend, hedge fund billionaire Ian Wace). “For rent, a substantial family country home in a desirable part of the Cotswolds can typically sit around £5,000 to £10,000+ per month, depending on location, acreage, privacy, staff accommodation and security requirements,” says Ali Hassan, co-founder of health and lifestyle concierge Octobere. “Properties suitable for especially high-profile individuals can sit above the conventional rental market, particularly where discretion, gated access and enhanced security are priorities.” The Lawsuits Following his failed privacy case against Associated Newspapers Ltd, Prince Harry is liable, along with six other celebrities including Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, to pay a total of up to £34m. This does not include the celebrities’ personal legal costs, estimated to be at least £20m (though it may have been on a no win, no fee agreement), nor the legal insurance each obtained at £2.7m. Neither the UK government nor the royal household will foot the bill for the Sussexes’ private security now that they are back on home turf, and it will be significant. Costs can vary, but “a family of four typically requires a minimum of two security officers”, says Stuart McNeill, CEO of luxury concierge service Knightsbridge Circle. “One security officer costs around £1k a day. For round-the-clock coverage however, factoring in shift patterns, holiday cover and so on, you’re looking at £900,000–£1.1m or more [annually].” The Childcare Lilibet, five, and seven-year-old Archie started school almost immediately after touching down in the UK. “Two children of prep school age attending a top private day school, can cost up to around £34k a year per child in the senior years, with fees typically starting lower and rising through each school,” says McNeill. There will be plenty of additional costs on top, including tutors and nannies. Given Prince Harry’s continued closeness with his own former nanny, Tiggy Pettifer (believed to be godmother to his children), this is likely to be a role they invest in. A Norland Nanny, for instance, can command £100k per year, or more if there is international travel involved. Flying in on a chartered private jet believed to cost around £9,000 per hour of flight time was a sign of the expenditure to come for the Sussexes. McNeill says that for families in the 0.01%, “the most common additional requirements include schooling, security, a chief of staff or estate manager, household staff, family office set-up, personal assistants for the principals”, which could easily run into the hundreds of thousands, and things like club memberships. At nearby celebrity haunt Estelle Manor, membership is £3,750 annually with a £1,000 joining fee; there is also Soho Farmhouse (membership fees vary depending on how many houses you want access to, but expect a minimum of low thousands) and the Club by Bamford, where membership starts at £2,475 (joining fees are from £825). “For clients operating at this level, lifestyle management can also include private drivers, household support, travel arrangements, airport assistance, dining and events, healthcare and wellness support, and managing last-minute or highly time-sensitive requests,” Hassan adds. The Deals When the Sussexes moved to California, the deals came thick and fast: a reported £74m [$100m] from Netflix for various documentaries, and £15m [$20m] from Spotify (though a source told the New York Post at the time that the couple “didn’t produce enough content” to receive the full payout). Spare, released in 2023 and reportedly part of a £15m [$20m] deal, became the fastest-selling non-fiction book since records began, which should net Prince Harry reasonable royalties. There is also income from Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand, As Ever, which sells £47 [$64] candles and £189 [$256] scent sets; plus the lucrative world of speaking engagements. Prince Harry was reportedly paid around £37,000 [$50,000] for an appearance at the IAPP Global Summit in Washington this year. “If David Cameron or Theresa May can command decent five figure [amounts], you can imagine that Harry and Meghan are in that market too – but you can’t do too much of that, you devalue your own market,” according to Hardman. Much of what has generated the Sussexes’ income since becoming non-working royals has relied on their willingness to discuss the trappings of their former lifestyle – yet this won’t do if they are to mend fences with the Firm. “If they want to forge any kind of renewed relationship, talking about royal life is going to work against that,” Hardman says. He suggests that switching focus to their charity endeavours would help to create “a more wholesome image”. “I would say it makes them a more appealing commodity in other ways, but it’s tricky. It’s always tricky for ex-royals to know where to draw the line. But one thing people don’t like is when they directly trade off their royal status.”