Prince Harry told Oprah he's grateful for his mother's - the late Diana Princess of Wales - inheritance after his family cut them off financially in the first quarter of 2020.
In one of many revelations shared by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a tell-all CBS interview for which Meghan Markle confirms the couple wasn't paid, Prince Harry tells Oprah that money left by his mother was a huge help at this time in their lives.
"I've got what my mum left me and without that, we would not have been able to do this," he said.
Eighteen months after they were married, in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a decision to "step back" as senior members of the royal family and work to become "financially independent."
After leaving the UK, the couple moved to Canada, a Commonwealth of Britain, with the intention of continuing to serve the Queen.
Prince Harry confirmed that security normally provided by the Royal Family was completely cut.
In March 2020, days before the COVID-19 lockdown, the couple relocated with son Archie to Los Angeles where US media mogul Tyler Perry offered them his home as a temporary refuge, along with security.
Three months later (around June 2020), the couple bought their own home in the Santa Barbara area. They've lived in California since March.
Since leaving the Royal Family, StyleCaster lists the couples' sources of income as a 2020 Netflix deal, reportedly worth USD$100m, along with income from various speaking engagements with Harry Walker agency, with estimated fees at USD$1m per speech.
Harry and Meghan intend to continue to support royal associations through their foundation, 'Archewell'.
Prince Harry said deals with Netflix and Spotify were "never part of the plan" but after the Royal Family cut him off he had to support his family.
"That was suggested by somebody else by the point where my family literally cut me off financially," he said.
In response to whether making multi-million dollar deals makes them "money-grabbing Royals", Prince Harry said that was never the intention.
"I'm not complaining, our life is great now - we've got a beautiful house, I've got a beautiful family, the dogs are really happy, but at the time during COVID, the suggestion by a friend was 'what about streamers'?"
"From my perspective, all I needed was enough protection to pay for security to keep my family safe," Harry added.
On February 19 2021, Buckingham Palace released a statement announcing it was agreed that Prince Harry and Meghan would not return as working members of the Royal Family. Their royal patronages and Prince Harry's honorary military titles, would be returned to the Queen.
Noting that the exit agreement with the Royal Family was coming up at the end of the month, Harry said he understood the decision was to "remove everything".
"As of last week, the decision is that they will be removing everything," Harry said.
"I am hurt but at the same time, I completely respect my Grandmother's decision."
Before leaving the royal family, BBC estimates that 95 percent of Prince Harry's income came from his father, Prince Charles through the 'Duchy of Cornwall' (an investment portfolio including property), which earned £21.6m (NZ$42m) in 2019. From 2018 to 2019, the annual allowance paid from the Duchy of Cornwall for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for public duties and some private costs was reportedly £5m (NZ$9.7m). Money paid to the couple from the taxpayer-funded Sovereign grant, contributing around 5 percent of their income, would also be cut.
The Mirror reports that the fortune left to Prince Harry by the late Princess Diana was £12,966,022 (NZ$25.1m), reduced to £8,502,330 (NZ$16.4m) after death duties.
Syndicated to 70 countries, The Guardian reports that furious bidding wars saw broadcasters pay "tens of millions of dollars" for the opportunity to air the interview, with ITV reportedly paying £1m (NZ$1.94m) for an exclusive right to air in the UK.
CBS Presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry will air in Aotearoa exclusively on Three and ThreeNow at 7.30pm Tuesday, March 9.
