Prince Harry ‘scored £16m advance’ for Spare book – adding to £106m pocketed from Spotify & Netflix deals
PRINCE Harry has reportedly scored another £16million for his book after already scooping £109million in his deals with Spotify and Netflix.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took a financial hit upon leaving royal family, but their net worth has rebounded with several media mega-deals.
Here we take a look at all the lucrative deals that have kept the couple in the money since leaving the firm…
SPARE
It’s thought the duke and duchess signed a four-book deal with Penguin Random House for £16million, reports MailOnline.
In the UK a whopping 750,000 copies of Spare have been sold since its publication on January 10.
Harry paid ghostwriter JJ Moehringer $1million for the book.
So far he has given away £1.2million of the proceeds to charity.
He has been met with silence from the Royal Family since publishing his memoir.
The book includes revelations of a “fight” with William, rows between Meghan and Kate and private conversations with his father after the deaths of the Queen and Prince Philip.
He claims to want reconciliation and is asking for private conversations with his father and brother.
Princess Anne and Prince Edward’s families have made it clear Harry is not welcome at the Coronation.
They fear what they say could be used in his next book.
SPOTIFY
Meghan and Harry were dealt a £18million deal with Spotify back in 2020.
But in January 2022, The Sun revealed Spotify was taking the project “into its own hands” as content from the couple failed to materialise.
Initially, a “full-scale” launch of shows was promised in 2021. However, the year came and went without any further update.
Bosses then stepped in and began recruiting in-house staff to help.
In 2022 Meghan launched her own show, Archetypes – looking into labels and stereotypes “that try to hold women back”.
So far Harry and Meghan’s only podcast effort together has been a 35-minute ‘holiday special’ in December 2020, featuring celebrity pals Elton John and James Corden.
It is not clear if or when Archetypes will return for a second series.
NETFLIX
Meghan and Harry raked in £88million for their six hour-long episodes on Netflix.
The first episode of the six-parter was watched by 2.4 million people on TV sets in the UK, according to Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) figures.
The second instalment had 1.5 million viewers while the third was seen by 800,000.
The figures were more than double those drawn by the first episode controversial royal drama The Crown, watched by 1.1 million on its first day.
The couple told the world of their “modern fairytale” of a “prince and an actress” — where in the end “love wins”.
A source claims beyond the current docuseries and the already-filmed programme on Harry’s Invictus Games, there won’t be any more productions.
An earlier planned one for a children’s show devised by Meghan was dropped earlier this year.
FAMILY MONEY
In 1994, The Queen Mother put away around £19million into a trust fund for her great grandchildren – which obviously includes William and Harry.
According to The Guardian, the brothers split £6million of this trust at age 21 and Harry took the majority of the money to “compensate for not becoming sovereign”.
And it’s only going to get better for the men as when they reach 40 they reportedly get to split another £8million, but the other grandchildren, including Eugenie and Beatrice will get a few million pounds each.
As well as funds coming in from their great grandmother, Forbes reported that Princess Diana left her boys nearly £8million after taxes.
It was also set up that once Wills and Harry were 25 they started to receive around £340,000 a year.
When Harry was a full-time working royal, he received an annual allowance from his dad.
In 2018, Charles paid £4.9million to Harry, William and their partners from the Duchy.
However, since Harry and Meghan stepped back from being senior royals, they have been financially cut off.
Before she tied the knot with Harry, Meghan was worth an estimated £3.5million, thanks to her role in American drama Suits.
She pocketed a reported £500,000 pay-check for her role as Rachel Zane in legal drama Suits.
Marriage to a royal has certainly boosted her finances though – and her assets: she now has a 91-piece jewellery collection worth £600,000.