Over the years, ever since Prince Harry and his ex-duchess bae were romantically linked, Meghan Markle has faced an unfair amount of scrutiny and accusations, including the rumor that she is a gold-digger. Usually, members of the British royal family lives off the money of U.K. taxpayers, but since she’s not longer a part of the royal family, she lost those financial privileges, so they no longer apply to her. When stepping back from their official positions, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would “work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support” the queen.
In reality, it’s quite the opposite. Meghan’s been always used to supporting herself, and she’ll be just fine. Prior to meeting her red-headed sweetheart, Markle was very successful on the popular American TV show Suits and was a flourishing career woman. Just from her Suits salary alone, Markle’s net worth in 2019, as estimated by Forbes, was $2.2 million.
Last September, the Duchess of Sussex and her husband repaired the $3 million in public funding that was used to renovate their cottage residence on the royal Windsor estate. The couple is also entering the world of business by establishing partnerships with a range of private companies. These partnerships help fund their philanthropic work, which they’re still highly passionate about, even after leaving the monarchy.
Savings from Suits
Firstly, Meghan established a nest egg with her Suits money. Sources say that she made an average of $50,000 per episode, and she had her $2.2 million net worth before meeting Harry. She also earns royalties whenever an episode of the show airs on USA or a streaming service, including Netflix and Amazon Prime. Thanks to those payments (remember, Harry was cut off and that was his primary income) the couple was able to put a down payment on their $14.7 million home in Montecito, California.
Other roles helped out
Besides being known worldwide as Rachel Zane, Markle has been featured in films such as Remember Me and The Candidate. For Remember Me, she earned approximately $187,000, and for The Candidate, $171,429. That’s a pretty penny for just some smaller roles!
Side gig as an influencer
Every actor or aspiring actor knows that it’s not safe to put all your eggs in one basket. In other words, they need to diversify their streams of income through other work. Besides being an actress, Markle used to run a lifestyle blog named The Tig.
Sadly, the royal family made her shut the blog down, but she shared hot tips on bachelorette weekends, style advice, and her self-professed obsession with hot sauce. Of course, monetization and endorsements attached to her sponsorships and blog mean that Meghan Markle earned approximately $80,000 annually from her website alone.
A fashion designer
Apart from including, acting, and getting her fairytale ending with a prince (we get why people are jealous) Meaghan even collaborated on fashion collections. She did so twice with Canadian retailer Reitmans, and acted as the shop’s brand ambassador. Her second capsule collection was launched in 2017, and was described by the ex-Duchess herself as “Aspirational Girl Next Door” which it is totally Meg’s own style vibe.
She didn’t just put her name on it — she was fully involved with designing the pieces. Though we’re not sure how much she made from the Reitman’s deal alone, with all her various hustles, it’s estimated that Meghan entered the royal family with nearly $5 million!
Returning to creating content
Now that she has her freedom and sense of individuality back, she can return to being a content creator. Last December, she and hubby announced a three-year deal with Spotify. The partnership will entail the couple producing podcasts via their Archewell Audio brand. This deal is estimated to be worth $15 million-$18 million. They’ve also been rumored to partner with Netflix, creating a production company that they refer to as informative but hopeful “inspirational family programming”. This is valued to be worth between $100 million and $240 million.
So to anyone who might be judging Meghan and Harry’s decision or worrying what they’re doing now that their royal fund has been cut off, the answer is: just fine. Also, for anyone wondering: the couple were not paid for their famous interview with Oprah Winfrey. Instead, donations were made to their charities. As Page Six puts it in their report of the TV event, “A spokeswoman for the Oprah Winfrey Network confirmed that the couple won’t be collecting a paycheck and said that no donations are being made to their charity.”
