Before Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, she lived a seemingly modest life. Yes, she was an actress and by no means struggling financially, but her spending money was drastically different than it is now. So what was the Duchess of Sussex’s net worth before she became a member of the royal family?
The Duchess of Sussex made plenty of money before marrying Prince Harry. | Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Meghan made most of her money from ‘Suits’
Meghan didn’t start out as a successful actress, but she worked her way up over time. Some people may remember her from airing on episodes of Deal or No Deal as one of the women who opens the briefcases. Meghan has commented on her stint on that show in the past, saying it was something she did to make ends meet. “Definitely working on Deal or No Deal was a learning experience, and it helped me to understand what I would rather be doing,” she once told Esquire.
Despite struggling a bit, she didn’t give up on her dream of acting. Eventually, she landed the role of Rachel Zane on Suits, and things took off from there. But when Prince Harry proposed, it meant Meghan had to make the difficult decision to leave the show.
She was worth about $4.8 million prior to marrying into the royal family
Meghan may not be worth as much as the royal family, but she did have a cozy gig on her USA Network show. It’s been reported that she was making roughly $50,000 per episode before she left, which amounted to $450,000 per year. And some estimate the actress had a net worth of about $4.8 million prior to marrying into the royal family.
Believe it or not, her salary far surpassed Harry’s military salary. When the prince was in the British Army Air Corps, he reportedly only made $45,000 per year — less than the amount Meghan was making in one episode.
While she still has that net worth, she and Harry have plenty of money together
Meghan definitely isn’t “worthless” financially — she has a net worth much higher than the average American. But she definitely isn’t worth as much as her royal husband, either. Harry may have had a fairly small salary in the military, but he is still sitting on an individual fortune of about $40 million. Most of this money has been endowed to him by the queen. And when he turned 30, a trust that had been set up by Princess Diana deposited about $13.3 million into his bank account.
Harry and Meghan have millions of dollars, but in addition to having money, they don’t often have to spend it. Most of their activities, including travel, are almost always paid for using the family’s funds (the royal family, in total, has a net worth around $88 billion). Fortune reported that between 2016 and 2017, about $9 million was paid out to cover various expenses for Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. The same goes for Meghan, now that she is officially a member of the royal family — she no longer has to pay for most things herself.
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