When, at the beginning of the year, Harry of England and Meghan Markle decided to leave the British royal family and the United Kingdom, they knew that they left behind many things of value: family, friends, charities, a reputation that made them very dear. in your country and also a house.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to make the villa of Frogmore Cottage, situated on the grounds of Windsor Castle, their home, undergoing a deep and expensive renovation, and finally barely using it.
Now, as they agreed upon their departure, they have complied and paid the costs of these works, which had been borne by the Treasury and therefore by British taxpayers.
A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan announced Monday that the debt had been paid off.
"The Duke of Sussex has made a contribution to the sovereign grant," the statement read.
"This contribution has completely covered the renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage, owned by Her Majesty the Queen, and which will remain as the residence of the Duke and his family in Great Britain," he explains, implying that on future visits - or if they decide to settle back in the country — the Sussexes will stay there.
The total cost of the works is unknown, as well as the refund made by Enrique.
According to
People
magazine
, it would be just over 2.5 million euros, while British media such as the
Daily Mail
bring the figure closer to three million.
Paying the debt was a condition set by Prince Charles, Henry's father and heir to the British throne, for his son's departure from the institution and to help them financially in their new life on the other side of the Atlantic.
Neither the US nor Canada, where they live and intend to live for the next few years, are going to protect or publicly finance the security costs of the dukes (as the London police and Scotland Yard did in the UK), so Carlos decided to do so during their first years in exile, until they made an income, through their personal fortune.
But the condition of the heir was always, as the British media revealed in May, that Enrique paid back the renovation costs of the house.
The works on Frogmore Cottage dragged on for months.
This 10-room building belongs to the grounds of Windsor Castle, is protected by the State and has been a much loved royal residence for over 200 years, but no one had lived in it in the last fifty years, so it was lack of a deep renovation involving plumbing, electricity, replacement of faulty beams ... Also, the dukes converted those 10 rooms into five (all of them with private baths), completely redone the kitchen, added walk-in closets ... so the work took longer and above all it became more expensive.
The fund to which Harry and Meghan have returned that money is one of the three main sources of funding for the crown.
The first is the
Sovereign Grant
or sovereign grant, that is, the taxpayers' money for the maintenance of the institution, which in 2018-2019 was 95 million euros.
There the dukes have deposited the money.
The second is the
Privy Purse, a
private purse, literally.
These are the private income of Queen Elizabeth II from various estates in the Duchy of Lancaster, part of the crown since 1265;
or in the case of Prince Charles of the Duchy of Cornwall.
With them they financially support the members who are not part of the crown officially (Prince Andrew and his daughters, Enrique and Meghan ...).
The third is the monarch's personal investments.
His are Balmoral Castle, in Scotland, or Sandringham Palace, in Norfolk, as well as an extensive collection of art, stamps and, of course, stocks and investments.