LONDON (UK) – A Buckingham Palace source said that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have met their “obligations” regarding their home in the UK and no more payments on the property are required for the time being.
Some local media had criticised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for spending 2.4 million pounds to revamp Frogmore Cottage on the premises of Windsor Castle before they bid adieu to their roles as working royals at the end of March.
The duo now lives in California with their son Archie and they have retained their property in Windsor as their base in England.
The royal couple’s spokesperson said earlier this month that they had given an amount for its renovation costs and the palace source said the payment also covered the rent they owed from April.
“They have fulfilled their current obligations, their debt obligations in relation to Frogmore Cottage, and they have made a payment that will recognise that they have paid for the rental of that property for a number of years,” the source said.
“There will be a point in the future when they would be expected to make further payments.”
This revelation comes as the royal accounts released on Friday showed that finances will be affected over the next few years because of the pandemic crisis.
The taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant, which meets the expenses of staff, upkeep of palaces and travel expenses, is based on 15 per cent of surplus income from the Crown Estate, property belonging to the royal family, from the two previous years.
To meet the expenses of the overhaul of Buckingham Palace, this was raised to 25 per cent for a decade in 2016. That yielded 82.4 million pounds for the financial year 2019-20.
