June 24 (UPI) — Britain’s Prince Charles continued to financially support Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after the royal couple officially resigned from their duties, according to a royal official and account data.
A royal spokesperson at Clarence House, Charles’ official residence, said the Prince of Wales allocated a significant amount of money to the couple until last summer, which was months after Harry and Markle announced they were quitting their royal responsibilities.
Harry told U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey in March that the royal family had “cut him off financially” in the first quarter of 2020.
The spokesperson’s remarks about further fiscal aid came after the annual royal accounts were published. The monarchy cost British taxpayers more than $122 million in 2020-21, an increase of $25 million from the previous year, the accounts showed.
Funding for both of Prince Charles’ sons — Prince Harry and Prince William — and their families cost $6.29 million, they showed.
The spokesperson said that when Harry and Markle announced they would work toward becoming financially independent, Prince Charles allocated a substantial sum of money to help facilitate the process.
He also said Harry’s comments about being “cut off” in Q1 of 2020 were accurate, since he was referring to the first quarter of the fiscal spending period, which runs from April to July. He also said the couple are now financially independent.
Harry and Megan announced that they would step back from their royal duties and titles last year and moved to California. They have recently signed multi-million dollar deals with Netflix and Spotify.
The financial accounts also show that 8.5% of the royal household’s staff consisted of ethnic minorities and there is a target goal to increase that share to 10% by 2022.