Prince Harry’s WellChild Awards Video Hints at ‘Problem’ for Him and Meghan Markle
Prince Harry is back in the spotlight. He spoke with the winners of the 2022 WellChild Awards in an October 2022 video call. While the Duke of Sussex excelled at “connecting” with the winners — and their parents — a royal expert believes the video highlights another “problem” for him and Meghan Markle, making money.
Prince Harry spoke with the winners of the WellChild Awards in a video call from his and Meghan Markle’s home office
At his mansion in Montecito, California, following Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, Harry chatted with the winners of the 2022 WellChild Awards in a video call.
Released on Oct. 10, the 38-year-old appeared to be speaking from his and the Duchess of Sussex’s shared home office. To kick off the call, Harry had a conversation with Henry Waines, 4, and his parents.
He opened up about having “no idea why” he’s called Harry even though his name is actually Henry. The Duke of Sussex also joked when Henry’s mother shared his name inspired her son’s.
Later, Harry offered updates on his and the Duchess of Sussex’s children, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, 3, and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, 1. “Archie is very, very busy. And Lili is learning to use her voice, which is great,” he said.
Upon seeing winner Isabelle Delaney’s Labradoodle on the screen, Harry offered an update on his and Meghan’s dogs. “I’ve got three in this house now. So, we basically have five children,” he said before listing off labrador Pula and rescue beagles Mia and Guy.
“Between the three of them, they charge around chasing squirrels and causing all sorts of problems to us, every single day. But they are also emotional support dogs 100% when they’re behaving.
Prince Harry’s WellChild Awards video call shows his ‘amazing ability to connect’ but the ‘problem’ is it ‘comes down to cash’
“Harry is absolutely devoted to WellChild. He’s worked with the charity for many years, royal expert Katie Nicholl told the U.K.’s GB News.
Harry’s involvement with the organization dates back to 2007, when he first became a patron.
“When you hear him and you watch him engaged with those children — and their stories are so moving and so beautiful and inspiring — I think, and I think most people would agree, you see Harry at its best. You really do,” she said.
“He has this amazing ability to connect with these children and their families. And I think if this was the sort of work we saw Harry doing rather than those big money-making deals,” Nicholl continued. “He’s loved for it and he’s brilliant at it. He really is good at it.”
“It comes down to the cash, though. This is the problem,” the author of The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown said. “They need to make money. They left the royal family largely to become financially independent. And for all the charity work in the world, it’s very hard to make that sort of money out of it.”
Harry and Meghan skipped the 2022 WellChild Awards on Sept. 8 following doctors’ concerns about the queen’s health. Later in the day, Buckingham Palace announced Queen Elizabeth’s death at 96.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now financially independent
Long before Harry’s WellChild Awards video, he told Oprah about being financially “cut off” by his family.
“My family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford security for us,” he said in the March 2021 CBS interview. “I’ve got what my mum left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this.”
Per Vanity Fair, the suggestion reportedly left Harry’s father, the now-King Charles III, “quite upset.”
Today, Harry and Meghan are financially independent. In 2020, they inked multi-year deals with both Spotify and Netflix.
Said to be worth millions, content from the couple and their production company had been scarce, apart from one podcast episode, until Meghan’s Archetypes podcast premiered in August 2022.
Another source of income for the couple is Harry’s yet-to-be-released memoir.
