Royal style & gossip: from maximum Maxima to minimalist Meghan

[QueenOfTheAndals]

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Royal style & gossip: what do we want? Frock shots! When do we want them? Now!

If Charlie gets billed by the designer for the clothes MM wears.......how do MM and Jessica Mulroney split the money 50/50? Doesn’t the money go to, like, the designer? Am I being dense or is that story so made up it’s actually impossible?

is that story so made up it’s actually impossible

That's my guess.

It totally doesn't make sense. I've never been able to get my head around it.

It's gossip and I don't want to talk about it. If she is taking money I don't blame her. She has zero ability to make her own income. She is married to someone who isn't actually worth all that much. The assets are all held within the crown. He only really has his inheritance. The imbalance of power is huge.

The RF would like the world to believe DofS was making oodles of money and was a B list celebrity. In reality she was probably making $30-40k per episode, so over an 8 year period she made about $3.5m gross. She was not a know actor and if she hadn't met PH no one would know who she was. From that income she had to pay her agent 10%. She then had to pay her stylist, lawyer, PR firm etc etc. Residuals won't be as much as the RF would like everyone to think they are. Gross, she was probably making about $450k or so a year. On a net basis probably closer to $250-300k. Trying to make out that she regularly walked the red carpet and made oodles of money is such a stretch it's laughable and I actually feel sorry for her that she is being set up. 18 months before she met PH she had to buy her own dress to wear to an awards show because no one thought she generated enough publicity to warrant giving her a dress to wear.

If she is taking the money I would consider that a very smart move. It's basically the only way she can build up a rainy day runaway fund.

Most of Meghan & Harry’s day today costs are met by the Duchy of Cornwall. As are William and Kate’s. I think the revenue is about 20million per annum; so Charles is not on the Civil List, but pays tax on his Duchy income.
The Queens income is from the Duchy of Lancaster but the civil list; which I think is around the 5 million mark subsidises all the poor relatives, Kent’s; Gloucesters etc.
I presume, like most married couples Harry & Meghan have a joint account. Probably at Coutts; a chequebook and a credit card.

Even with @Want2besupermums calculation rates; Meghan has a healthy £2million in the bank, which she doesn’t need to touch.

curly That's on a pretax basis. Self employed income here in the US are heavily taxed because you pay both the employer portion and employee portion of taxes. For the $250-300k earned after expenses it's $150-180k per year net of taxes. She will need to pay her own health insurance, housing costs etc etc. At best she will have saved $500-750k. In GBP her gross earnings are £185-220k, net of tax being around £108-132k. Over 8 years I would assume she saved a lot of the money but absolutely nowhere near £2m.

Duke of York in Australia

I have been reading about his Pitch@Palace initiative. It’s like a Royal Dragon’s Den. I actually think it is really good, matching young entrepreneurs (often it seems in the tech field) with investors.

Since I saw Andrew fussing over Eugenie at her wedding, I do have a soft spot for him. It’s is hard being no.2 in the RF which has a rigid pecking order as demonstrated by pp ( was it @ paradyning) rather than being a meritocracy.

Sorry it was @PawneeParksDept
I agree 100% with what you said.
Meghan is a very talented woman. She just needs to keep plugging away with her initiatives, like the Hubb.
One thing about her Hollywood background; she would have learnt to grow a thick skin. The shade thrown at her; even from her own family is incredible and she has not said one word.

Diana’s correspondence with Prince Phillip. He really did try to help with her marriage woes. Really sweet how she calls him “Pa”

Article on the royal family's net worth. The Wales brothers also inherited Diana's fortune, which was considerable.

Interesting article @Queen. I was in the ball park for the figures.
Although if the Duchy of Cornwall pays for business expenses, who pays for normal running costs like the electricity bill; supermarket, off duty clothes from Zara?

Perhaps the dividends from the Diana inheritance cover those expenses?

There will be a huge disparity once William becomes Prince of Wales, and definitely once he becomes King. Will Harry become one of those less well off relatives?

The Royals, all of them, live a life of immense privilege, wealth and fortune. Who else has a choice of mansions on private estates and some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Not to mention staff, royal protection, security, chefs, secretaries and housekeeping. What more could they possibly want.

I don't think he will be less well off as Charles will likely make substantial provision for him in his will.

Totally agree with what pawnee said upthread. I think Meghan is doing a great job.

Never in a million years would MM essentially be defrauding the royal family. Apart from anything else, who would be so fucking stupid?!

Long-time lurker delurking to say how much I’m enjoying these threads.

When I was a child I had this book (in fact I still do at my parents’ house). Loved Diana when I was younger, and this book - which probably came out only around 3 or 4 years into her marriage - takes me back to a time when we all believed in their fairy tale.

Although her style definitely got sharper as she grew up, there was a lovely innocence (from the outside looking in at least) about the early days, before we knew about her eating disorder and unhappiness. I love looking at her clothes from that era.

Hard to believe how young she was! She definitely dressed older than her years when she was finding her feet (although I think we all did in those days tbh - wearing suits etc to nightclubs! ).

Diana was stunning. I do wonder what she’d look like now. She was 5 years older than me & I definitely dress younger now then I did then. However I maintain she wouldn’t have been an easy mother in law.

Those letter between her PP - very sweet. And puts a different light on PP I think.

Personally I don't believe that blind item - agree MM wouldn't be so stupid. People around her could be though.

I also agree with Want2b's calculations re MM's net worth. The figures I've seen in the press of £4m just don't add up really. She was not that big a deal in Hollywood at all. I mean she was doing comfortably well but wasn't exactly Jennifer Aniston. Did she own a home in the US/Canada at all? I would have thought she spent a fair bit on personal maintenance as well.

That photo of Diana is stunning and looks as though it could have been taken today.

I imagine the adjustment between W, K and H now M is around has been huge. I mean I always got the impression they were very close and H's past girlfriends were all of their 'set'. MM is very different so not surprised that they may have cooled off a bit.

Is that one of the letters stolen by Paul Burrell?

I read somewhere that a huge stash of letters (amongst everything else) was found in his house but crucially W&H could only claim back the ones that were addressed to them. They couldn't claim back the ones they had sent their own mother because once you send a letter it ceases to be your property. So I think PB still has a load of letters people can't claim.

"recently unearthed" = "recently flogged"

A young Diana Charlotte looks slit like her DF and DGM doesn’t she have linked from a new Diana instagram account I’ve found which has some great shots.

Alot not slit

MMs stylist could be billing through a company for styling advice and clothing.

It’s not unknown and other celebrities have had a problem with gifted items.

There will be a huge disparity once William becomes Prince of Wales, and definitely once he becomes King. Will Harry become one of those less well off relatives?

That reminds me of this quote from Two Weeks Notice where Hugh Grant's billionaire character says, "I'm now poor. When I say 'I'm poor', I mean we may have to share a helicopter with another family."