Prince Harry is stepping up efforts to patch things up with King Charles during his latest UK visit because he 'knows he'll get nothing' once Prince William becomes king, a royal expert has claimed. The suggestion raises fresh questions over whether the Duke of Sussex's reported push for reconciliation is being driven as much by money as by any wish to heal deep family rifts.
Harry and Meghan Markle walked away from royal life in 2020 and have since lived in California, styling themselves as financially independent. The couple bought a sprawling Montecito mansion for a reported $14.65 million in June 2020 and signed several big-ticket media deals in the US. Meghan has also launched her own lifestyle brand, As Ever, in a bid to open up another stream of income. Yet speculation has been bubbling for months that some of those lucrative arrangements are either shrinking or quietly stalling, putting pressure on the Sussexes' finances and public profile.
Prince Harry 'Knows He'll Get Nothing', Says Jobson
Royal author Robert Jobson argued that the financial reality facing Harry is now colliding with the changing shape of the monarchy. Speaking on The Royals Uncensored podcast, he said the prince is under no illusion about what awaits him when his older brother eventually inherits the crown.
'Harry knows that when his brother becomes King he's going to get nothing,' Jobson said, as reported. 'So therefore he's now trying to make amends with his father, who holds the purse strings.'
The phrase 'holds the purse strings' is doing a lot of work here. Under the current set–up, King Charles controls the flow of royal funds and, crucially, has discretion over how far support extends to non‑working members of the family. Jobson suggested that while Charles might still choose to help his younger son financially, Prince William as future king would be far less likely to underwrite the lavish lifestyle Harry and Meghan have built thousands of miles from London.
Jobson went further, saying he did not want to sound 'overly cynical,' but arguing that 'time is of the essence.' 'He needs to build bridges quickly if he wants his bank balance to be able to pay for his lifestyle,' the author added.
Buckingham Palace has not commented on Jobson's remarks, in line with its long‑standing refusal to engage publicly with most commentary on the Sussexes. Representatives for Prince Harry have also not responded to the specific claim that his reconciliation efforts are financially motivated.
Reconciliation Talk Meets Legal Defeat Back Home
Harry's supposed desire to mend fences with his father is playing out against a far less flattering backdrop in London. The duke returned to the UK this week, without Meghan or their two children, to promote the 2027 Invictus Games and to attend an event at Chatham House in London.
On Tuesday 7 July, he spoke at the 14th Invictus Games Foundation Conversation, titled 'From Policy to Practice,' at the foreign affairs think tank. It was his first public appearance in Britain since suffering a major reverse in one of his headline legal battles against the press.
Just hours before the event, the High Court dismissed Harry's unlawful information‑gathering lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd, the publisher of the Daily Mail. Court records show that all 14 of the duke's claims, each relating to different articles, were thrown out.
Harry had alleged that Daily Mail journalists engaged in unlawful methods to obtain private information. Associated Newspapers consistently denied the accusations. In the end, the judge sided with the publisher and refused to let the claims proceed.
The duke was not alone in the action. Other high‑profile figures, including Sir Elton John, actor Elizabeth Hurley and campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, also saw their claims dismissed. For a man who has made his battle against parts of the British tabloid press almost a personal crusade, it was a bruising loss.
Money, Montecito And A Narrowing Royal Safety Net
Harry and Meghan's decision to walk away from royal duties was sold, at least publicly, as a bold step towards independence rather than a scramble for cash. Netflix deals, podcast contracts and a high‑profile book release suggested, for a time, that the couple had successfully pivoted into a celebrity‑media hybrid life in the US.
However, rumblings about their longer‑term earning power have grown harder to ignore. The couple's financial commitments are considerable. Their Montecito home, bought for $14.65 million in 2020, comes with hefty upkeep costs and the sort of security and staffing bill that does not come cheap. Meghan's As Ever brand is intended to boost their income, but it is still in its early days.
Against that backdrop, Jobson's claim that Harry 'knows he'll get nothing' one day lands with a certain blunt logic. As a non‑working royal living overseas, his official role in the institution has shrunk to almost nothing. Once William becomes king, the priority will inevitably narrow to the core working royals who support the crown's public duties. Harry will not be among them.
Does that mean every phone call, every quiet meeting with King Charles, is rooted in money rather than emotion? That is harder to prove. Family ruptures like this do not run on a single track. Harry has spoken often about his love for his father and brother, while also accusing 'the Institution' of failing to protect him and Meghan. Those are not easy things to square, even without the added layer of finances and titles.
Still, Jobson's assessment taps into a harsh truth about life on the royal fringe. Access to the monarch often means access to resources. Lose one and the other starts slipping away. For a prince trying to build a new life in California while keeping at least a foothold in the world he left behind, that might be the calculation that matters most.
