When Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry announced at the beginning of this year that they had decided to step back from their roles as senior royal family members and become financially independent, the list of questions seemed endless.
One, which riled up many a royal watcher, was the matter of Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor home which was extravagantly renovated in 2019 ahead of the birth of the pair’s first son, Archie Harrison, which, according to the stats, stacked up a whopping $4.5 million in costs – all of which was taxpayers money as per their royal set-up.
Given the pair’s decision to step back, both Harry and Meghan were at the forefront of yet more scrutiny as people demanded to know what was to become of Frogmore Cottage when neither were choosing to pursue the royal life that had secured the suave new digs for them.
At the time, Harry and Meghan’s representatives assured press that the costs would be repaid. Still, people doubted, projected, and, again, scrutinised how that would come to be given the couple were now, in their words, financially independent.
But in a moment of pure, and well intended ‘I told you so’, it seems the feat was not only very doable for the couple, but doable quickly.
Harry and Meghan are off to a rip roaring start after becoming financially independent from the royal family back in March.
(Getty)Yes, a mere nine months after the pair’s explosive announcement, and six months after they formally stepped back from the royal family, Harry and Meghan have already paid back the AUD$4.5 million in taxpayers costs for Frogmore Cottage.
In a statement, a spokesperson explained: “A contribution has been made to the Sovereign Grant by The Duke of Sussex. This contribution, as originally offered by Prince Harry, has fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage, a property of Her Majesty The Queen, and will remain the UK residence of The Duke and his family.”
Harry and Meghan have already paid back the taxpayers costs towards Frogmore Cottage’s flip (pictured here pre-renovation).
(Twitter)Yep, these two have wiped their hands clean very nicely from any negativity surrounding the validity of their decision to go financially independent.
The pair have also begun their post-royal life with a bang – with a new foundation set to amalgamate the charitable and social work they’ve been doing both in a royal and non-royal capacity, it seems there’s plenty more to come from the Sussex duo.
Last week, it was also confirmed the pair are partnering with streaming giant Netflix in a milestone deal that will see them produce thought-provoking, “hopeful” documentaries.
The pair relocated to Los Angeles in March in the wake of COVID-19’s fast spread across the world. They have remained there ever since, and it is expected they’ll continue to work between there and the UK moving forward.
So for any doubters questioning their success in a post-royal capacity… well, all of the above suggests nothing but the contrary.
We can’t wait to see what comes next.
WATCH: Harry and Meghan make a video call from their new US home:
