News Nation’s gossip person, Paula Froelich, has had some bizarre royal exclusives in recent months. Last September, she made some wild claims that Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace obsessively watched everything Prince Harry and Meghan do and that the palaces weren’t happy with the Sussexes because King Charles and the Princess of Wales were both at death’s door. Then in November, Froelich’s sources insisted that Meghan “doesn’t know what she’s doing” with her Netflix cooking show and that it was likely that Netflix would “drop it.” This stroll down memory lane is sponsored by These People Don’t Know What They’re Talking About, in association with The Palace Is Still Briefing Against The Sussexes On a Daily Basis. Obviously, Froelich has an exciting new palace briefing/exclusive about NGN settling with Prince Harry this week.
Word that Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) settled at the last minute with Prince Harry rocked the media world this week when Harry scored a major victory as the Sun newspaper not only admitted to hacking the Prince but apologized to him for his “torments”… and gave him, what I hear, was a whopping $12.3 million for his troubles.
After the case was settled on Wednesday, News Group Newspapers agreed to pay “substantial damages” for what it described as “the serious intrusion” by two of its flagship titles, the Sun and the News of the World. But there’s more to the settlement than meets the eye.
”They needed the money,” my insider said. “The way (Harry and Meghan) live, and the rate they spend, they would run out of cash sooner rather than later — and it’s not like anyone is running to hire them or give them more contracts. As they’ve proven time and time again, the only time they make money for people is when they’ve sold out his family and that cow has been milked.”
And I’m hearing it’s an insane amount of money — $12.3 million dollars (10 million GBP), which not only covers Harry’s legal fees, it also puts a chunk of change in his personal bank account. An insider added: “If he had been able to file in the United States the damages would have been a lot more, but since the crimes happened in the UK he couldn’t file here — and the UK rarely gives out massive amounts of money for damages.”
The cash is important as Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, live an expensive life. Their Montecito house was bought for $14.65 million and costs at least $500,000 to maintain a year (insurance, maintenance, taxes, etc). They also have a nearly $1 million annual security bill and both like expensive things like polo horses and private jets.
While they were rumored to have scored a $100 million deal from Netflix, only their docuseries “Harry & Meghan” scored any eyeballs. The other shows they created — “Heart of Invictus,” “Live to Lead” and Harry’s “Polo” — bombed… and there’s little hope that Meghan’s cookery show “With Love, Meghan” will do well.
”It’s completely contrived and so very 2004,” an insider said about Meghan’s upcoming show that was set to debut mid-January but was pushed back until March due to the LA wildfires. “She wants people to have a look inside her life but she didn’t even film inside her own home. And no one knows who these pretty people are she’s cooking for. It’s insane. The price of eggs is skyrocketing and she’s showing us how to put edible flowers in ice cubes — like that hasn’t been done before.”
Meanwhile, there are no more book offers (unless Harry does a sequel to his runaway hit “Spare” which, again, sold out his family), and while the numbers quoted about the Sussex’s projects were huge ($100 million for Netflix, $40 million for a series of books, $20 million for a Spotify deal) — those numbers are the CAP own what they would have made had all their projects been successful. Likely, the pair were given production support and marketing but would have only garnered big bucks if they’d met sales targets. Which they did not.
The couple’s publishing deal has gone by the wayside and the Spotify deal was canceled after just one year, with Spotify exec Bill Simmons calling the pair “grifters”.
The way I know some/all of this is coming from Buckingham Palace is because this is a near-constant storyline from Charles’s camp in particular: the money will run out at some point, and when the money runs out, then we’ll have Harry right where we want him. They’ve been saying that for five years, they’ve been trying to promise everyone that “Harry will crawl back, broke and divorced.” Anyway, this reads like the feverish rants of a courtier who knows nothing about how money, business or contracts work. The publishing deal has not “gone by the wayside” – Harry wrote one of the most wildly successful books of the decade, and I’m sure Penguin Random House would love a second book (and Harry should absolutely write it). Netflix seems happy with the Sussexes, and the money from their original contract hasn’t just disappeared. They have investments, they have other jobs, they’re doing fine. Harry didn’t “need” the settlement money. NGN needed to settle so that Harry wouldn’t reveal all of their criminal activity in open court.
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
It would be funny except the stupidity is maddening! 😡
I am so glad for Harry to have this awfulness off his plate, to have the apology, and the money!
Good for you Harry! 💗
Right?! I used to find all this nonsense about the allegedly broke, desperate Sussexes mildly amusing, but I just have no patience for it anymore. It’s envious, petulant bullshit.
I am very glad for Harry too, he got exactly what he wanted 😀 Let the Windsors continue to panhandle the taxpayers 😃
Even if Harry & Meghan don’t have a DIME TO THEIR NAME…(which btw…would NEVA happen…) they would STILL be richer than ALL the motley crew of the BRF combined!
Exactly.
“Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” Oscar Wilde
Harry and Meghan are amongst the richest people in the world because they each have those ‘infinitely precious things’ that Wilde alludes to. The writers & originators of these barbed media hit pieces could never understand why money alone does not make one rich because their souls are withered, corrupt and to be pitied.
PREACH!!!!
In all of this I only feel sorry Meghan what a life to live, this will never end for her
This. What the hell has she ever done to anyone??
Yup. The poxy title from the crappy family ain’t worth this.
Marrying Harry really turned her life upside down. She had a good life before him. She lived in a million dollar townhouse in Toronto, had a good role on a long running TV show, had The Tig, and most importantly her privacy and peace. Now she’s hounded every single day of her life while people go out of their way to blame her for Harry leaving and all of his fucked up baggage.
JT says:
January 24, 2025 at 10:32 am
“Marrying Harry really turned her life upside down. She had a good life before him. She lived in a million dollar townhouse in Toronto, had a good role on a long running TV show, had The Tig, and most importantly her privacy and peace.”
……………………………………………………………………………………
And yet, I can almost guarantee that while she would be the first to tell you that she was and continues to be grateful for her life and experiences, she wouldnt trade her current life for the opportunity to return to her old life.
Some people just find it difficult to grasp that life moves ever forward; doesnt stand still or move backward. And the forward motion and what it brings, can only happen based on the choices we make every day. And if you choose “A” then by the same token, you cant choose “B.” And both A and B come with their own realities that normal, adult human beings accept and handle as best they can.
I dont know of any successful person who wastes their life sitting around and lamenting the road not taken.
PS:
M didnt own that house in Toronto. She had much better investment instruments. And an ever-increasing asset portfolio.
PPS:
Today she is in her era of joy and will never allow anyone to take that away.
ProTip: those who seek to tear you down are already beneath you.
If Harry lost all his money and many paying jobs he still would not go back to the UK so these nonsense stories are a waste of time. These people know absolutely nothing!!
I’m sure for a Man that had Holes in his shoes and carried his worldy posseions in a trash bag if the money ran out he’d pack his family in an RV home school his kids. before he went back. these people are not living an in your face lavish lifestyle. beside Harry has a Job
I laugh at the private jet part every time. From what I recall, when they’ve taken private jets, it’s mostly been a carpooling (plane pooling? jet pooling?) arrangement. Hey, I’m your friend, I have a private jet, I’m headed that way anyway so want a ride? Unlike the leftovers who get the taxpayers to pay for new helicopters, etc.
They are so desperate to get M&H back, they believe if they wish it hard enough, it will manifest.
I’m pretty sure that every time he’s flown into the UK, it’s been commercial. When they went to JA, they probably flew on the company jet with Brian Robbins. People seem to like to travel with them. Do they think they take jets or helicopters just to travel a few hours like some people we know….
Fail were hoping Harry would go broke if he went to court against NGN if he won but the damages awarded were less than that offered to settle beforehand! They are going to be terrified about their own 2026 trial because they have been so unhinged against him and Meg. Harry is vindicated by his win here so it will be full steam ahead!
Link to the latest decision from pre trial hearing regarding multiple litigants against the Mail / ANL
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/planned-costs-harry-mail-publisher-105554949.html
Have these people never heard of investments? Meghan has been visibly investing in companies that have had explosive growth. And that’s only what we see; no doubt they have financial advisors who are helping grow their money. I’m sure their passive income alone pays for their household expenses.
I will be happy when we see Harry and Meghan donating this money to various charities, because you know that is what they will do.
They have a billionaire godfather 😭😭 There is no way they are ever gonna go broke.
I find it hard to believe that it costs half a million dollars to run that home. It won’t be cheap but..
Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised, living here. CA is EXPENSIVE, water, electricity, workers to upkeep the landscaping, pools, grounds, housekeepers, etc. Just property taxes alone would be insane. I have a 2 bd, 2 bath, w/a den condo in the Bev Hills area, and MY prop taxes are almost $13K/yr! Add to that daily living expenses, schools, taxes, etc and yeah…it can definitely add up!
Why is the guestimate all $10-$12 million?
I’m not rich, but $12million does not seem that much for that lifestyle.
I imagine Cali taxes and staff will eat that up by year’s end.
Yeah, nobody knows how much he got. I saw that amount as his legal team fee and what Hugh got. Considering Hugh didn’t even get an apology, let alone an admission of guilt, I am sure Harry got paid a lot more than that.
Jegede, The amount Harry got has never been revealed, so putting an amount out there isn’t logical. Besides, if someone tells how much he got, it would likely violate the settlement agreement.
I think there are some very jealous people out there because they know that Harry got a huge sum of money–maybe not as much as he would have in the US, but huge for the UK. I, too, think he got more than Hugh.
I don’t know where they came up with that number, it seems way too low for what was extracted. It’s also weirdly around the same amount his nonce uncle paid to a young lady he never met.
I think they’re trying to both whip up disgust at how rich they are and how that’s an absurd amount, AND how it’s such a small amount compared to outlay they will surely soon be bankrupt and dependent on the crown for everything.
Exactly that amount is not much for the security costs and lifestyle costs they have. I also don’t believe that Prince Harry settlement was anywhere near that low.
Them going broke really is their biggest hope. This is why they pulled security, because they know that that is a very large or probably largest expense. Again though they operate as if people don’t invest money. This gives me great insight into why so many people in the royal family are always getting caught up in scandals dealing with money. They must just spend like the money will never end, because the idea of investing and saving and living off interest seems totally foreign in these articles. That’s how I know it’s coming directly from the Royal Family, because anyone else would reasonably realize that you tuck a little bit to the side in case you have lean times. ” Normal” people don’t have 67 million taxpayers constantly re-upping their bank balance. I’m sure Harry and Megan ( because they’ve literally said so) have realized that they won’t always be on top and have made arrangements to invest well and diversely to ensure a stream of income not dependent on popularity.
That H&M are invested out the back door never seems to sink in with these idiots.
It does, but that’s the only narrative left 😃
If Charles could figure out a way to get into Harry’s personal bank account and drain the funds he would. So instead it’s review bombing everything they do with anonymous sources that are only too happy to be quoted.
@Jais KC has probably roared at Harry that he and Archie and Lili won’t getting anything in his will, if he didn’t behave himself!!
Apparently it never occurred to anyone that Harry may have inherited money from QEII and Philip, Meghan may have received something and the children may have trusts set up due to them. All the money earned could be in investments in land and securities. All the Briitish knows that the BRF is sloppy and shady when it comes to money. Looking at you Charles, William, Andrew, Fergie. Edward and Sophie. Dishonorable mention for the Middletons as well.
I was about to write that. We only know about Diana’s will. The wills of the queen mother, Philip and the Queen are sealed. I’d bet dollars to donuts that trusts were set up for the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren before each passed to avoid taxes.
Philip especially knew what it was like to depend on wealthier relatives his whole life for clothes, schooling, housing etc. His aunts and uncles (prince Christopher of Greece and princess George of Greece were phenomenally wealthy as was Edwina Mountbatten and his surrogate aunt Zia Wernher).
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Queen created Trust Funds for Archie and Lili.
Harry had millions of dollars from Diana. He said he didn’t want to spend it but that doesn’t mean it’s not invested.
Obviously we haven’t seen Meghan’s show yet, but even if she is just following the template of every other cooking show from the past 25 years…so what? How many current hosts are doing anything radical or innovative? They don’t need to! For the vast majority of the audience, cooking shows are more about comfort watching than learning how to cook.
Also, Is anyone else starting to find the phrase “price of eggs” triggering? I feel like hearing it non-stop for the past 6 months is causing me to develop a facial tic.
Miranda, I find it amusing that they are talking about the price of eggs. They need to direct that to the Orange Blob.
You can tell the Windsors and especially Willy are PISSED about Harry’s victory by the number of bots deployed, briefings, and pap strolls. Good Luck trying to spin a civil lawsuit in which Harry got NGN to admit to legal wrong doing for the first time in history, apologize to him and his mother and pay him a 8 figure settlement as a loss.
And on a humorous side note Meghan was the first self made millionaire to marry into that family. She’s a literal investor and Harry inherited money from Diana that was invested, book sales profits, his military stipend, and several positions in which he has stock options. The idea of the Sussexes ever needing money is just laughable.
The BRF took away their security—a huge expense—to try to force Harry to come back. Once that is covered I’m sure the Sussexes feel okay about their finances.
Spare 2.0? I’m here for it!
I’ve just had a thought that Spare 2 could be a possibility given Harry didn’t add a new chapter to the paperback.
Spare 2.0 would be great, but how about an exposé of all the horrible things the media have done over the years? Reveal all the things that would have come out in court? Doesn’t seem as though he had to sign an nda for the Murdoch settlement…
The clear hope that H&M will run out of money shows how shortsighted they really are. I do not believe for a minute that H&M are at risk of going broke, but think about what Harry would do if they did. He sees going back to the UK as a danger to his family, so he would do anything to avoid that. Which would logically include a second book, more interviews, and spilling more secrets. A broke and desperate Harry would be 1000x worse for them than a happy, content man who chooses to live far away from their drama. They are idiots if they don’t see that.
They were always idiots, always.
If Harry did all this, then he would be doing what he is accused of doing- making money by airing his family’s dirty laundry. Harry and Meghan told their stories- something they needed to do to correct the record- through the Oprah interview, the docuseries, and Spare. They have not spoken about the contents of those three things since. I would guess that the settlement has also protected the Windsors from having their relationship with the press revealed further in the course of the trial. They should be grateful to Harry for saving their skins here. The tone and the contents of the article are so petty, resentful, and downright ridiculous, it’s childish.
🎯
Harry needs to write part 2 of his book! That will shake them up!
Another unnamed “insider” as if the Sussexes would share details about their finances with him or her.
I don’t understand why they think if they were broke they would go back. Meghan, I would be stunned if she did, Harry I really have a hard time seeing it, even if divorced, I don’t see him going back and leaving his kids to be the third wheel again. I just don’t get the logic of this thinking. I feel like it’s more likely you’d see harry working whatever job he could, especially with willy becoming king soon. So many royalist don’t seem to realize how stupid they sound. I do think they are trying their best to cost them money and make sure they have to spend, making it unsafe for them with Harry’s main concern of security.
kate, the more they put out these negative stories, the longer it keeps the Sussexes front and center. They are creating that which they want to tear down. Idiots will Idiot.
If they were broke they would sell their house and downsize. They are not stupid people. Some people just want a part II to the Harry and Meghan story where they crawl back to the UK broke and have to beg Willy for forgiveness, not happening!
Whatever. The sources for this piece are probably from the British press who know absolutely nothing about Harry and Meghan’s business affairs.
This☝️
It reads just like them. Weren’t they complaining the other day about Harry’s salary from Better up.
In what bizarro world is a couple worth more than $100 million (even before this deal) about to go broke?
Lol, sure – because when I need money my first thought is to sue Rupert Murdoch.
The Met is apparently asked for Harry’s court papers. That’s why they’re mad, the BM may still have criminal exposure.
Methinks the Met Police asked for the “pre-trial transcripts” at the behest of some media people because once the police have it, the reporters who missed out on clickbait income they were counting on from the trial can use Freedom of Information requests to gain access to “inside information” in order to report on what might have come out in the trial.
The Met screwed up years ago during Levenson 1, there is no way they are requesting these transcripts because they suddenly care about holding the criminal papers and journalists to account. After all, they shrugged and dismissed Harry’s concerns about a police investigation when he again called for one after the courts named Piers Morgan as one of the criminals.
The MET and RAVEC are in bed with Charles, they will do his bidding. There was a RAVEC board member on Charles’s staff who refused to forward Harry’s request to reimburse the police for RPO protection which started the whole ball rolling. I am really looking forward to reading those time-bombs.
People going broke don’t risk 20 million + to sue tabloids. People going broke don’t invest in companies where they might not see a financial return for years (if ever). Here is me manifesting the total sales of Spare to date because I honestly think that alone was the nest egg. Now it’s about growing it and diversifying. Harry and Meghan know that they will need security for them and their kids for life. I trust every decision is being made to ensure they have that. I also like that they have very powerful (and rich) people who love them and their kids who also want that. Anyways I’ll just go back to sipping my Clevr tea and patiently waiting for ARO so I can send my contribution to the Archie and Lili happy life fund.
‘And no one knows who these pretty people are she’s cooking for.’ – I can see not knowing 2 movers & shakers in the California food movement: chefs Alice Waters & Roy Choi, but can you imagine saying that about Mindy Kaling? I mean, really, she has been nominated for more than 1/2 dozen Emmys, won 2 SAGS, won a couple of Women in Film Awards, it’s disgusting the lengths they will go to to minimize Meghan.
It reminds me of when Sophie (I think it was Sophie?) was trying to act like nobody knew who Oprah was.
It was Sophie, in one of her more gallingly racist moments — as she had been to a school for girls in South Africa, founded and funded by Oprah. And there’s photographic evidence.
These people have no understanding about how money and contracts work. They don’t know how much money Harry and Meghan have or how much they’ve received in any of their contracts with Netflix, Spotify, Penguin Random House, any of their investments or lawsuits. They are making assumptions with no real way of knowing their worth. We learned through the actors strikes that no one really knows how much any of them are worth. They don’t own polo horses or a jet, so neither of those have anything to do with their finances. It is all just assumptions on the media’s part because they don’t want to admit that it was a huge win for Harry and it was NGN (Murdoch) who settled. The added apology and acknowledgment of the wrong they did shows that this settlement is because they knew they weren’t going to win this case against Harry and there was too much evidence against them. Harry was willing to see this case all the way through to the end because it wasn’t about the money but about the apology and acknowledgment of the wrong they did towards him and others. He got that and won.
If the Sussexes just needed the money, they could have settled a long time ago. They try so hard to be so dismissive of Harrys book, but he gets money every time a copy of that book is sold, so does Meghan every time an episode of Suits airs. They have other business interests. The press is definitely riled up about not only the rumored size of the settlement, but also the apology and praise Harry is getting. The Sussexes have done their thing. People keep wanting them to climb Everest over and over again.
I feel like this entire nothing article was so they could slip in the reporting what murdoch et al did and name it for what they are, crimes. They are admitting Harry was right the entire time.
“If he had been able to file in the United States the damages would have been a lot more, but since the crimes happened in the UK he couldn’t file here ”
Not” alleged crimes,” not, “harry is dumb and meghan is crazy”. Crimes.
Then they note all M and H contracts, business endeavors, financial successes like they are not successes.
Harry said it himself: He was able to press this case because he had resources other people didn’t. The Sussexes are doing just fine.
In fact, I wish they’d flaunt their wealth more ostentatiously, but Meghan has too much style and class for that.
Bullshit to that ridiculous story. It was about principle. Since their royals have none of that and are always obscenely chasing after money (even if they are billionaires), they don’t understand that a prince can have more noble motives than clout, greed and vengeance.
I love how a quote that is nothing more than a lazy, snotty, uninformed opinion about the trailer to a cooking show is attributed to “an insider” as if that opinion required any inside knowledge or anonymity. LOL