Your Turn gives Beast Inside members a chance to weigh in with questions and perspectives about what’s happening in the news for a chance to be published on the homepage. Thank you to member Manisha Thakor for this week’s questions on HRH the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.
What official roles will Harry and Meghan have in the British royal hierarchy?
Technically, Harry will occupy the same position as Charles’ brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, once the Queen dies and his father ascends to the throne. Meghan would have an identical position in the seniority ranking to Edward’s wife, Sophie. However, in reality, Harry and Meghan will play a far more important role in the life of the nation than his uncles and aunts currently do. This is due not only to their enormous popularity but also the exceptionally strong relationship between Harry and William, whereas Charles does not get along with his brothers and has actively sought to cut them out of his vision for a slimmed down monarchy. Harry is hot-headed and will never be an advisor, per se, but he will be King William’s most trusted confidant.
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Is Meghan in danger of eclipsing Kate in popularity and upsetting the royal balance of power?
The massive amount of attention currently focused on Meghan won’t, hard as it may be to believe, last forever. And of course, we have been here before—in the 1950s and '60s, the public adored the glamorous Princess Margaret, but in the end, their enduring loyalty returned to the monarch. That said, Meghan is certainly a lot more fun to read about than Kate and the press love her, because she actively tries to help us on engagements by turning to the cameras and smiling for pictures. Kate and William can be petty and annoying in this regard, refusing to pose for pictures which they consider undignified. However popularity doesn’t transfer into additional clout within the family—as Margaret found out. Harry understands very clearly who will be boss, and it won’t be him or Meghan.
How many royal engagements a year will Meghan and Harry each be expected to carry out?
Meghan and Harry will probably make around 100-150 appearances in their first year of marriage. They are shortly off on a royal tour of Australia, which will boost their overall tally considerably. The number dwarfs the handful of engagements carried out by Kate and William in Kate’s first year of marriage.
How much did Harry and Meghan's country home cost?
Royal finances are opaque to say the least, and there is no requirement on the royals to itemize their private expenditure. The couple are privately renting a cottage in the Oxfordshire countryside, which is unlikely to be costing them more than a few thousand dollars a month, but anti-monarchists can always make the figures look terrible by including the cost of police protection. A uniformed cop costs around $100 per hour to "rent" if you are holding an event, which means that the numbers can be massaged to look vast. But it’s clearly absurd to suggest Prince Harry and Meghan should not have publicly-paid police protection at their private residence.
How big is their Kensington Palace cottage? Has Meghan renovated it yet?
Harry and Meghan have been living at a 2-bedroom cottage called Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace since their engagement was announced. It was here, famously, that Harry proposed over roast chicken. The house was previously lived in by William and Kate and is comfortable but not luxe; William was always banging his head on the low doors and it does not have air conditioning, which annoyed Kate when she was pregnant with George and living there. The interior of ‘Nott Cott’ was glimpsed in Harry and Meghan’s engagement interview, which was filmed there. It is expected in due course that Harry and Meghan will move into a bigger and more glamorous apartment in the main part of Kensington Palace.
Who pays for Meghan's clothes?
Meghan and Harry, like Kate and William, receive an annual allowance from Prince Charles, which is intended to help defray the costs of royal life, including dressing for formal occasions. An exact breakdown is not provided. The royals are not supposed to accept freebies, but they can take clothes on loan provided they are returned to the designer afterwards. Meghan paid for her own wedding dress—with assistance from her mum, who wanted to chip in. Details on discounts have not been revealed.
