Prince Harry's inheritanceis at the centre of fresh scrutiny after a US royal commentator claimed in early May that the Duke of Sussex has already burned through most of the multi‑million‑pound fortune left to him by Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen Mother, and has now reportedlyslashed his Montecito staff by almost two‑thirdsamid money worries.
Citing five unnamed sources 'close to the Sussexes', Wakeford suggests the couple are 'wildly unhappy' and have had to 'cut back', allegedly shrinking their full‑time team in the US from 16 employees to just five.
Wakeford writes that Meghan is said to be acutely aware of the need to manage their finances carefully, while Harry, 'raised in a world where everything was provided', is portrayed as lacking 'basic awareness of what things cost.'
As of this reporting, none of those character assessments is backed by on‑the‑record testimony or documents, and nothing in the piece provides hard numbers on what, if anything, remains of the prince's inheritance.
$20 MILLION… GONE? ....Prince Harry inherited a fortune from Princess Diana and the Queen Mother, but a new report claims it has largely been spent.According to insiders, Harry and Meghan Markle are now under growing financial pressure after burning through much of the…pic.twitter.com/613A1ZfBSg
The Sussexes' spokesperson mounted an unusually punchy rebuttal. In a statement responding to the report, they said: 'The "unnamed sources", once again, doing a lot of very heavy lifting in this report. If they had any faith or evidence to back up what they allege, I don't understand why they wouldn't just go on the record with such claims... still, I suppose it makes writing a lot easier for Mr Wakeford when you don't have an Editor standing over you asking you to evidence it or "stand it up".'
In Spare, Harry describes the Diana money as both lifeline and burden. 'Upon reaching thirty, I'd receive a large sum left to me by Mummy,' he wrote. 'I scolded myself for being gloomy about that: most people would kill to inherit money. To me, however, it was another reminder of her absence, another sign of the void she'd left, which pounds and euros could never fill.'
He also acknowledged that the inheritance might one day have to be used for personal protection, calling such spending a 'last resort.'
'We saw that money as belonging to Archie. And his sibling,' he wrote.
Alongside the Diana estate, the Queen Mother's 1994 trust has long been part of the picture. Set up when she was 94, it was reportedly worth about £19 million and designed to give her great‑grandchildren tax‑free lump sums, with payments on their 21st and 40th birthdays. By the time Harry reached 40, in 2024, the matured fund was said to leave him with between £7 million and £8 million.
Source: International Business Times UK
