Harry had little access to money

[babsanderson]

Harry was given Nottingham Cottage a 2 bedroom cottage presumably rent free. He was given security paid by the taxpayers. He was also given a clothing allowance from Charles to pay for clothes for formal public occasions.

But he obviously had little access to money. He bought his casual clothes cheap from TK Maxx and talks about drying shirts on radiators.

When he told Charles he was going to marry Meghan Charles said he could not afford to pay for Meghan and Harry as he was already paying for William and Catherine. Charles suggested Meghan continued working to pay for Garry and Meghan. Meghan paid for furniture from Ikea and sofa.com to improve the furnishings in Nottingham Cottage.

Charles paid for Harry and Meghan's wedding. Although Meghan paid for her own wedding dress. The taxpayers paid for the security.

Remember Harry and Meghan were working Royals.

The taxpayers paid for the renovation of Frogmore Cottage. A cost that Harry and Meghna paid back when they left the Royal Family.

The Civil List used to give a defined amount to each working Royal. But that was changed and all the money went to the heir to dole out.

The Queen and Charles appear to be remarkably stingy towards their own child and grandchild.

I still don't understand what is the problem with a wealthy, independent, feminist woman - setting up home in a Central London location provided for free by her in-laws - buying a modest item of furniture that she can take with her or sell on later. A sofa in Sofa.com clearance costs (now) around the £1300-1500 mark. I'm sure that amounts to about 5 dinners at their beloved Soho House.

@queenofarles I'll take a guess that's what happens of they are looking to take the funds to replace the sofa from the 'Royal' funds but if they are paying for it themselves it will be like normal go out an purchase (just make sure what you are skipping isn't historically important).

I do imagine lots of these old castles and places are filled with ancient well worn furniture, but it was stuff that was commissioned by some Duke or Prince a 100 odd years ago and made by some very important furniture maker so can't just be replaced.

But other parts that are private and never seen by the public or guests must be just ordinary stuff that ordinary people buy.

In the book he says he never wanted the ring and William took it into his possession after Diana died.

Well, actually, he says (paraphrasing) that Willaim took It, Harry was never asked if he wanted it but he didn't want it anyway so there.😉

Harry did not go wanting - he is crying poor!
The financial reports of the BRF are published.
The BRF doesn't have unlimited funds nor the capacity to make megabucks selling secrets to keep the coffers full. And Harry is not the heir - that is just reality.
The Duchy of Corwall has a charter to invest well and it has to keep healthy and auditored for all future generations.
The Sovereign Grant reimburses the King (back then the Queen) for their expenses in carrying out royal engagements. There are guidelines and the Monarch has to afford repairs to buildings and paying staff as well as reimbursing working royals for expenses.
Suggesting that Meghan might want to continue working was giving her real options; it was respectful especially until she really knew what Harry's royal duties entailed. As it transpired it was a very wise suggestion.
Harry could have continued working part time in the Armed Forces.

Ikea is fine enough for most people.

Royals have access to old furniture and they get their shoes mended.
Harry comes across as childish and ignorant in many aspects related to the workings of the royal family.

I don’t think Nott Cott was ever dotted with Georgian furniture .

the list of tenants varies from the Duke of Gloucester to Former Nanny, Former Secretaries, even Jane Fellows lived there for some time.

so prior to W&K living there it probably had the odd 80s Laura Ashley sofa , Jane Churchill curtains or heals brown furniture .

then it was completely renovated.

It was supposed to be in like new condition when Harry moved there, so their demand for a new sofa might have seemed unreasonable at the time.

I think you’re right, @queenofarles , it’s probably a bureaucratic nightmare to get the Royal purse to provide new furniture.

So they did what most couples in their mid-30’s do and bought it themselves.

What’s tone deaf about this saga is that they BOTH really had plenty of money to do this, H just hadn’t made the necessary arrangements to access his.

If M had insisted he pay for the furniture, they’d just have had to wait a couple of months for the funds to come through….similar to ordinary people like us who save up to buy things!

Oh come on. Balmoral is not owned by the Crown. Nor is Sandringham. The RF has enormous private wealth they could have used to pay off Harry and Meghan properly without them feeling they had to publish a book and a docuseries.

My guess is they never took Harry, or his threats to leave, seriously. He was expected to put up and shut up just like his mother. Some senior staff member should have recognised what was happening and sat both sides down to negotiate seriously. It’s all been handled really badly.

Even if they had had to sell a Titian or two, surely it would have been worth it to avoid this current mess?

I thought paying off inconvenient family members was a 19th century thing. No amount of money they gave him would ever be enough. He’d constantly be coming back for more. He’s essentially blackmailing them now and will continue to do so if they give in to him. He sad he wanted financial independence, now he’s got it.

Harry apparently also had an army pension, but i guess it was quite small.
I read elsewhere on the internet that the recipts for the furniture were reimbursed.

The pension is tiny and he doesn’t get it until he’s 55.

Did he get his army salary ?

Why on earth should he have been 'paid off'?

Both he and William donated their military salaries to charity apparently. It seems that giving the Army Benevolent Fund’s bank details to payroll is quite common with very wealthy officers.

I suppose Harry expected to be given due recognition of his status within the RF when he married, and not only did that not happen, but he found them to be disrespectful to his wife too.

I suppose this was one of the first times when the position of being a spare was really driven home to him materially speaking and his pride was hurt. He and Meghan had had previous serious careers; they weren’t ingenues.

Someone more secure might have weathered it better and worked from within the RF to make themselves indispensable. But if he was being briefed against and his wife attacked in vile ways in the media (especially when he has had bitter experience of his mother suffering the same thing) he probably thought “fuck it, this really isn’t worth it”.
Imho, RF should have been much more generous and skilful in the way they handled him.

'I suppose Harry expected to be given due recognition of his status within the RF when he married, and not only did that not happen, but he found them to be disrespectful to his wife too.'

But what sort of recognition?

Meghan was given security very early on in their relationship, far earlier than say Kate or Diana.

They had a beautiful wedding paid for by RF, with their chosen choirs etc. Meghan's future fil walked her up the aisle.

The biggest apartment at KP was being renovated for their use, then they decided they didn't want it so the Queen offered them Frogmore.

They did an overseas tour very soon after their marriage.

And really, how long between their marriage and them buggering off to Canada? Barely 18 months. So what more do you think they should have had in that 18 months?

Paying them off would have been bloody expensive, both directly and indirectly. There's a lot of royals, it's not a trend you'd want to start - paying non-working royals for silence

Yup. W&K waited longer for both KP and Anmer. Jason Knauf emails confirm that the KP apartment wouldn't be ready til 2021 - they were getting the big house but it takes time.

Pay him off?

Are people really suggesting Harry tried to black mail his family?

Or that ‘his truth’ and desire to ‘fix the monarchy’, is something he was willing to keep to himself for money?

Or that both of them wouldn’t have spoken out about racism in the royal family, as long as they got money. They received an award, in part, for that. Regardless of Harry’s back tracking.

Says alot about what people think of Harry and Meghan.

I suppose Harry expected to be given due recognition of his status within the RF when he married, and not only did that not happen, but he found them to be disrespectful to his wife too.

What status - he wasn't the spare by then - Charles was still heir apparent - William the next in line - and by then William already had three children.

Other royal grandchildren were working outside the royal family.

They could have had a quiet wedding - didn't want that and their wedding was paid for mostly by others which they then moaned about. They were given rent free housing and very much offered others.

I've a bit taken back when I've see US you tube reactors be surprised Harry wasn't higher in succession - often watching a video explaining change in all the titles - and it like oh of course - if it went sibling to sibling Prince Andrew would be next not William - it like how Meghan and Harry get referred to as young - I think it very much PR narrative selling to a US audience.

Are people really suggesting Harry tried to black mail his family?

From the Briony Gordon interview

And now it’s down to 400 pages. It could have been two books, put it that way. And the hard bit was taking things out He has a three book deal.

You might want to read the whole article, so here’s a link.

bryonygordon.substack.com/p/a-cup-of-tea-with-prince-harry

But they left because they couldn't be half in and half out.
Meghan (and Harry) wanted to make commercial deals off the back of the RF.
You cant do that, and represent the crown at the same time