There’s nothing that can tear up a family quite like money, even — or maybe especially — for a family as rich as the Royals. Even though the Windsors are so wealthy they could easily live the Scrooge McDuck dream life and swim around in gold coins all day, it seems an influx of new cash is fueling yet another feud between estranged siblings Prince William and Prince Harry.
The brothers might be seen as the youngsters of the British monarchy, but they are both well on their way to middle-aged. William is currently 42 years old, while Harry is gearing up to celebrate his big 4-0 this September. At least in his case turning 40 will come with a nice little gift to soften the blow, even if his birthday windfall is leaving big bro William fuming.
Prince Harry to receive more than his brother from Royal inheritance, and William is reportedly not pleased
Grandparents are always giving their grandkids money, but when it comes to the Royal family we’re not talking about the note your grandma slipped into your birthday card. The Queen Mother established a trust fund for her great grandchildren prior to her passing in 2002, into which she invested what’s believed to be the majority of her £70 million estate. When Harry turns 40, he’ll finally inherit his slice of the fund, which is placed at 10% of the entire sum — so that means he’ll come away with a cool £7 million.
Here’s the rub, though: William is understood to have received a much less substantial amount for his own 40th birthday, due to his reaping significant earnings from the Royals’ Duchy of Cornwall estate (which he recently elected not disclose tax information about). Unsurprisingly, then, Harry bringing home so much cash while not doing anything for the Royals except drum up endless scandalous headlines is not exactly sitting well with the Prince of Wales.
“William’s pretty disgusted that once again Harry’s going to be cashing out and taking millions back to his Montecito home without lifting a finger for it,” a supposed Royal insider told Closer. “There’s nothing he can do about it, aside from shaking his head, but if it were up to him, Harry would not be getting this payday.”
The insider continued, “William doesn’t think his brother is in any position to be getting this handout and he’s letting it be known that he thinks it’s a pretty rotten situation.”
William isn’t the only one not happy about Harry’s inheritance as the question of whether the Queen Mother would even want him to have the money were she alive today has generated a lot of debate.
“I’m pretty sure that the late Queen Mother never dreamed that Prince Harry would stand down from full-time Royal duties,” expert Helena Chard told Fox News Digital. “She would have assumed that he would always have been Prince William’s right-hand man. I imagine there are a lot of mixed feelings regarding the inheritance split.”
There might be mixed feelings at Buckingham Palace, but probably very happy feelings at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s mansion in Montecito. No doubt Harry’s counting down the days until his big birthday on Sep. 15.