Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have enchanted the UK with their romance and will tie the knot this weekend.
Many will watch the ceremony, and continue to take an interest in the lives of the prince and the young actress.
In their couple’s engagement interview aired on the BBC last year in November Prince Harry said, when asked on the subject of children: “Of course. You know, one step at a time. Hopefully we’ll start a family in the near future.”
If the couple do go on to have children, who will finance them?
Where do the royals get their money? Royal expert and managing editor of Dailybreak Kelly Lynch explained all to Express.co.uk.
The Queen is given money taken from the public’s taxes, known as the Sovereign Grant.
Kelly said: “The Queen is the only person who directly benefits from the Sovereign Grant, but it’s likely that from her personal wealth she’s set up trust funds for her children, and they (hopefully) in turn did the same thing for their children.”
The Queen’s Privy Purse is her private income, which comes largely from land she owns.
Kelly said: “Members of the Royal Family who undertake engagements and travel to foreign country’s on the monarch’s behalf are compensated through the Sovereign’s Grant.”
Kelly also believes that money left to Prince Harry from his mother will go towards any children he may have.
She said: “As for Harry and Meghan’s future children, my thinking is that a portion of their income will come from Harry’s inheritance from his mother.
“Since they will no doubt take on official engagements on behalf of the Queen and Charles (the future monarch), they will be compensated through the monarch’s Grant-in-Aid funding, which helps to cover travel and accommodations.”
However, this is not Harry’s only income stream.
“Since Harry’s father gets most of his income from the Duchy of Cornwall (which was set up by Edward III in 1337 as a source of income for the heir to the throne), he and William benefit indirectly from that for their official activities,” Kelly said.
Prince Charles has, according to the expert, held onto the royal purse strings a little tighter, affecting some members of the Royal Family such as Prince Andrew’s children Beatrice, 29, and Eugenie, 38.
She said: “I understand that in recent years Prince Charles has worked on ‘slimming down’ the number of working royals so as not to cost the taxpayer too much money.
“Since the Queen has a great relationship with the York sisters, I can only imagine that she would somehow see to it that they are still involved in the monarchy.
“Let’s not forget that the Queen’s cousins (and fellow grandchildren of King George V) are still working members of the royal family.”
Recently another royal expert and biographer has revealed Meghan and Harry baby news about the couple, and claims children won’t be far behind the royal wedding.
Katie Nicholl, a royal expert and writer of biography Prince Harry: Life, Loss and Love appeared to Lorraine.
The writer told Christine Lampard: “One of the things I was told by their mutual friends is that family is very much on the agenda.”
