Prince Harry Struggling Financially? May Return To UK To Ask King Charles For Money: Royal Expert
Prince Harry could be forced to ask his father King Charles for money if he and his wife Meghan Markle lose their Netflix deal, a royal author has claimed.
Veteran royal journalist and biographer Angela Levin recently told GB News that Netflix is allegedly "fed up" with Prince Harry and Markle and unlikely to renew the five-year, $100 million deal it gave the couple in 2020.
After parting ways with Spotify last year, losing the Netflix deal at this point may make it difficult for Prince Harry and Markle to continue being "financially independent" and maintain their lifestyle in Montecito, California, according to the royal expert.
Levin -- who interviewed and followed Prince Harry on royal engagements for a year to write his 2018 biography -- suggested that the Duke of Sussex may have to go back to the U.K. and seek financial help from King Charles if the couple loses another major income stream.
"I think Harry will try and get some money out of the King. I'm not sure, but maybe that's a reason they now want to come to the U.K. and see him," she told the outlet.
Earlier this year, Netflix announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to release two new series as part of their multiyear overall deal with the streaming giant: a cooking and lifestyle show for Markle and a project exploring the world of professional polo for Prince Harry.
However, Levin claimed that Netflix is "not really keen" on the royal couple's two new series and doubts that it will replicate the success of their hit 2022 docuseries, "Harry & Meghan."
While Markle's new show reportedly wrapped filming in July and Prince Harry's series was primarily shot during the U.S. Open Polo Championship in April, Levin claimed that the new projects won't be ready until "next February at the earliest."
The lack of original ideas, slow production and the fact that no project aside from the docuseries has done "phenomenally well" all signal that there's very little chance Netflix will renew its contract with the Sussexes, according to the royal commentator.
"Technically, they have messed up completely, because they haven't done it properly. Netflix is fed up, and they've got lots of other things on their line that they can do. So I think they're not going to renew the $100,000 to keep them going," Levin claimed.
Enstarz could not independently verify this information.
When Prince Harry and Markle first announced their decision to step back from their royal roles in 2020, they said they would be financially independent and "no longer receive funding through the Sovereign Grant."
Following their move to California, they made good on their promise to achieve financial independence and signed multimillion-dollar deals with Spotify and Netflix.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Prince Harry also inked a four-book deal with Penguin Random House worth $35 million to $40 million. The first book from the deal, Prince Harry's bestselling memoir "Spare," reportedly already earned him tens of millions of dollars even before the release of a paperback version.
During their 2021 sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry said that the book and production deals came after the royal family "literally cut [him] off financially."
According to the former military, it was the inheritance he received from his late mom, Princess Diana, that helped make the move to California possible.
"All I wanted was enough money to get security and keep my family safe," he said at the time.
Since moving to Montecito, Prince Harry and Markle's combined net worth has increased to an estimated $60 million.
This will see another jump next month when Prince Harry gains access to the reported $8.5 million inheritance his late great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother, left for him.
