Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to step down as senior members of the British royal family has been plagued with controversy.
WATCH: Trump punishes Harry and Meghan for ‘insulting the Queen’
And amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic, it appears the Duke and Duchess have more drama to come, with the couple rumoured to be facing an estimated $8million security bill.
Speaking on ABC’s HeirPod podcast, royal expert Omid Scobie revealed the royal couple are facing footing the bill, despite neither of them currently having a source of regular income.
“They have spent the last few years not earning a living,” Omid began.
“As a royal, your expenses are covered but you don’t earn a salary. It will be very tough for them especially in the few months ahead.”
Omid told listeners the subject of the royal couple’s security bill became a hot topic after US President Donald Trump recently said the government would not be paying for their security.
“Bearing in mind, [Harry and Meghan] had never actually requested or asked for support from the country when it comes to their own funds,” Omid added.
Harry and Meghan have since replied to the President’s remarks in a statement, which read: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have no plans to ask the US government for security resources. Privately-funded security arrangements have already been made.”
Omid added: “For Harry and Meghan, on top of the difficulties they have had with the press, there has been this underlying issue of who pays for security moving forward.
“It is something the couple were very conscious of – that from March 31st it would have to be done by themselves. They didn’t want to leave themselves open to further attacks.
“We saw them already step forward and offer to pay back the full renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage… that was something they wanted to do personally,” he said.
Speaking to Omid, CTV’s Laney Lui then referred to how unfortunate it is that some of Harry and Meghan’s efforts to make amends have been lost amid “the noise”.
Laney said: “Security is not cheap. For them, you are dealing with multiple personnel and round-the-clock… You have to also account for that and travel and other expenses.”
“This all goes back to the curiosity about their future plans and what they will be. They are going to have to have a pretty significant income to cover that and their lifestyle,” she added.
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