Meghan, Harry fulfilled 'debt obligations' for UK's Frogmore Cottage: Report

Former royal couple Prince Harry and spouse Meghan Markle fulfilled their financial “debt obligations” and no extra monetary funding was demanded by the couple in the interim, local outlet British herald confirmed, citing Buckingham Palace sources. The statement comes as recently, Meghan and Harry hit the spotlight after reports of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s gigantic home expenditures amounting to  2.4 million pounds emerged. They earned backlash for refurbishing Frogmore Cottage, set within the grounds of Queen Elizabeth’s Windsor Castle, west of London. This comes in the wake of the royal household’s The Sovereign Grant report 2020, which revealed the financial “challenges” for Queen Elizabeth due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, moved out of the Kensington Palace last year and now stay at their house in California with son Archie. The couple had kept their Windsor home in Britain as the base. The Sussexes refurbished their cottage on the Frogmore Estate recently, which remains under the official ownership of Her Majesty the Queen.

Amid the rising speculation that the royals used public funding for the home maintenance, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex updated their official website, saying, that only “Five percent of the funding for their official office was provided through the Sovereign Grant starting in 2019.” Further, the website mentioned, "Public funding has never been used, nor would it ever be used for private expenditure by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who also do not receive any tax privileges.” The couple also clarified that 95 percent of the funding received for their Office expenditure was in fact derived from income allocated by HRH The Prince of Wales, generated through the Duchy of Cornwall.

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Made payment towards renovation costs

Further, a spokesperson from the Windsor castle speaking on condition of anonymity, told local UK broadcasters that Harry and Meghan made a payment towards renovation costs and all debt obligations in relation to Frogmore Cottage. He said that the couple made donations that will recognize that they have paid for the rental of that property for a number of years. However, they’re expected to make further payments. This relegation comes as the Crown Estate’s revenues have been hit by the COVID pandemic, leading to the Sovereign Grant figure of 86.3 million to freeze until 2021. Queen’s treasurer, known as Keeper of the Privy Purse, Michael Stevens predicted at least a 20 million pound shortfall in the 369 million pound budget in times ahead and five million pounds per year loss for the next three years from mainly Royal Collection Trust. 

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(Image Credit: AP)