Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are “Relieved and Pleased” to Pay Off the Frogmore Cottage Renovations - Vanity Fair

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Their lucrative Netflix deal allowed them to pay back the British taxpayers the £2.4 million they spent renovating their Windsor home.

By Katie Nicholl

September 8, 2020

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s lucrative Netflix deal has enabled them to pay back the British public, who picked up the bill to refurbish their UK home.

The Sussexes used £2.4 million of cash from the tax payer funded Sovereign Grant, (money given to the Royal Family from the Treasury) for the costly refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, their UK home.

The couple was planning to pay the debt back over a period of time, but after signing a deal with Netflix believed to be in the region of $150million, Harry and Meghan decided to pay back the money in one chunk.

In a statement on Monday the couple’s representatives confirmed that they had repaid the money in full, following a backlash over the expensive renovations to a home they lived in full-time for barely a year.

“A contribution has been made to the Sovereign Grant by the Duke of Sussex,” the statement read. “This contribution as originally offered by Prince Harry has fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage, a property of Her Majesty The Queen, and will remain the UK residence of the duke and his family.”

Harry and Meghan faced massive criticism over the costly refurbishment project of their Windsor home which intensified when they announced they were quitting Britain at the start of the year. The property is now standing empty, with dust sheets over the expensive art works and furniture.

According to a source close to the couple they are “very relieved and very pleased” to have been able to pay off the debt so quickly. “This has been a pro-active step and something they wanted to do from the outset,” said the source. “There was no requirement [from the Queen] for them to pay the money back but it was important to them that they did, and after the Netflix deal they were in a position to do so. I think this is quite a significant moment for them. They’re now in their forever home, it’s the start of their new life and they’re very much looking forward to everything that’s about to come.”

The couple, who are hoping to emulate Barack and Michelle Obama’s post White House success by creating their own production company, plan to make original documentaries films and family programming as part of their multi-year deal with Netflix. They are not, however, planning to make a documentary about Harry’s mother Princess Diana, despite reports over the weekend. Instead the couple will focus on their passion projects – civil rights, female empowerment, conservation and mental health.

As part of the Netflix deal, the Duke and Duchess said they planned to create programs that “inform but also give hope” and make “impactful content that unlocks action.”

While the couple, who will be involved in every stage of the creative process, are looking forward to their first joint production Harry was said to be “hurt and upset” about “untrue” reports over the weekend that he had pulled the plug on a major TV project to raise funds for the Invictus Games.

According to the Sunday Times the couple were forced to ditch an Invictus Games fundraiser to be televised on rival streamer Amazon. The music and comedy show, to be produced by a UK-based production company, was due to be held in California next year at the Hollywood Bowl in the hope of making close to $1 million for Harry’s charity.

“There was a proposal being drawn up for a live concert in the Hollywood Bowl but there were quite a few holes in the proposal, and it wasn’t all done and dusted,” according to a well placed source. “The suggestion that Harry has chosen himself over Invictus, which he’s given so much time to is really quite egregious. He was hurt and upset which is why he reacted so strongly.”

A spokesman for the couple said that the couple had taken legal action against the Times, with lawyers for the couple saying, “The true position is that the format of the event was no longer viable in light of COVID 19” and stressing “These factors were separate to and independent of our client’s deal with Netflix.”

An Invictus spokesperson also said the event was “shelved” due to the coronavirus pandemic.