It Will Take Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Eleven Years To Pay Back Their Renovation Of Frogmore Cottage
It was recently reported that Prince Harry is very lonely and bored since moving to Los Angeles with Meghan Markle. Well, if he’s looking for something to do to help him adjust to regular life, he can always pull out Archie’s fingerprint-covered iPad and learn how to set up online banking. Because he’s going to want to make sure he doesn’t default on any of his monthly Frogmore Cottage repayments. According to The Mirror, Harry and Meghan have 11 years worth of payments to make.
After Harry and Meghan got married in May 2018, they moved out of Kensington Palace and into Frogmore Cottage, a dilapidated possum-filled garden shed divided into 5 apartments in the middle of nowhere. No, it wasn’t that bad. But it wasn’t nice enough for Harry and Meghan, and so they sunk a ton of money into a full-blown renovation. When the estimated final cost of the renovation was revealed, it was said that British taxpayers would pay for most of it, but that Harry and Meghan would chip in for little extras, like fancy curtains and things of that nature.
Six months and $3 million later, Frogmore was completed. And seven months after that, Harry and Meghan announced they were done with being senior royals and made a pit stop in Canada before settling in Los Angeles. And now Frogmore is sitting empty, possibly with nothing inside but a handful of flies circling a half-filled Diaper Genie they forgot to empty before moving out. But that doesn’t mean Harry and Meghan got a complimentary home reno before peacing out. After Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping down, we learned that they’d have to pay for the renovation themselves, as well as the rent on Frogmore so they can continue using it. The Mirror says that Harry and Meghan have worked out a payment plan for the upgrades done to their little cottage, and they’ll pay nearly $22,000 a month, every month for eleven years.
You might be wondering why Harry and Meghan don’t just cut a $3 million check and move on. Well, maybe it’s because they also have to pay for their own security, and they’re looking to buy a home while they stay in Tyler Perry’s gigantic mansion. They also have tons of lawyers to pay, thanks to Meghan’s ongoing battle against the Mail on Sunday. And their huge allowance from Prince Charles can only be stretched so far. Especially when it comes to a place they literally never see anymore. It was said previously that Harry and Meghan would still use Frogmore as their home base when they returned to visit the UK. The Mirror says that Harry and Meghan have only spent a total of two weeks at Frogmore in the past two months.
But regardless of how tight their financial situation may or may not be, Graham Smith, a rep for the anti-monarchy group Republic, thinks it’s tacky that Harry and Meghan are dragging out their reno payments until 2031. Especially when so many people are struggling during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Graham Smith said the couple are still more than rich enough to repay the money, “plus interest”, in one lump sum. “Taxpayers need their money back, particularly now we’ve been hit by the huge costs of the coronavirus. The couple, with their vast amount of millions in the bank, should explain why they aren’t paying it back immediately.”
Okay Graham, yes, Harry and Meghan are extremely rich and could absolutely just pay the outstanding balance plus interest all at once. But it’s important to remember that Harry and Meghan are attempting to be normal people now. And what’s more normal than taking as long as humanly possible to pay an overdue bill? This is basically the rich person’s equivalent to paying in rolls of change that you found in the couch cushions.
Pic: Wenn.com