It’s about to be a royal payday for Prince Harry ahead of his 40th birthday on September 15th. Even though The Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down from working royal duties to live financially independent lives, it seems there’s still at least one royal perk set to come his way.
In addition to the eye-watering AU$146-million Netflix deal Harry and Meghan signed after cutting ties with the royal family in 2020, the prince, who is fifth in line to the throne, is about to receive an estimated AU$14 million, according to The Times UK.
And it’s coming from his late great-grandmother, the Queen Mother. When Queen Elizabeth passed away in March 2002, the bulk of her estimated AU$140 million wealth was placed into a trust fund for her grandchildren.
According to The Guardian, the Queen Mother set aside all but one-third of her fortune for her great-grandchildren back in 1994. Not to be accessed at will, the fund stipulated that its beneficiaries had to wait until they turned a certain age to inherit the money.
Prince William and Prince Harry were to share roughly AU$11.5 million when they turned 21 years old. As per the rules of the trust fund, they would then inherit the rest of the fortune, roughly AU$14 million once they reached 40.
William, who turned 42 in June, is said to have received a smaller inheritance than Harry will get. This is, reportedly, to compensate for Harry not becoming sovereign.
The Queen Mother’s trust also includes money to be left to Princess Anne’s children Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips as well as Prince Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Princess Margaret’s children David Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto are also set to receive some of the money, upwards of several millions each.
Given his current legal battles, Prince Harry is likely to welcome the inheritance from his great-grandmother with open arms. However, he certainly isn’t hurting for the extra funds – current estimates put his net worth in the vicinity of AU$89 million.
What his older brother William thinks of him welcoming in such a large inheritance, especially one more sizable than his, is anyone’s guess. Apparently, Will has decided to cut ties for good with Harry and “focus on positivity” moving forward.
