Harry and Meghan 'given £3.5 million in freebies since relationship began', book claims

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been lavished with gifts worth about £3.5 million since their relationship began, a new biography claims.

The couple, who stepped down as "senior royals" at the start of the year, have been given luxury holidays on private jets, stayed in hotels for free and rented homes for significantly below market rates, Finding Freedom says.

The book revealed details of the couple's extravagant lifestyle, including the generous gifts that they have been given - and the combined value comes to around £3.5 million, according to estimates made by the Daily Mail.

The freebies even continued after they moved out of the UK, with the couple staying rent-free for four months in an eight-bed house belonging to actor and producer Tyler Perry when they first moved to the US from Canada.

Details on the rental cost of that home are unknown, but similar properties bring in more than £11,000 per month - meaning the couple saved around £44,000 over the four-month period.

The couple were given free presents even at the start of their relationship.

After news of the relationship came out, Meghan wanted to travel to the UK to visit Prince Harry without being noticed, the book says.

Her friends Krystal Koo and Michael Cooper reportedly let her fly in their private jet from Toronto to London. A one-way private jet flight on the route costs £49,000.

And the Duchess may have stayed at Soho House in London for free when she went on her first date with Prince Harry, the book claims.

Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote: "Meghan had been offered a heavily discounted stay at the five-star Dorchester Hotel but chose the luxurious room secured by Markus [Anderson — Soho House director] instead.

"As a celebrity and influencer, Meghan was regularly offered free holidays, travel discounts, and the like. But she turned down the Dorchester amid a Hollywood boycott after the hotel chain’s owner, the Sultan of Brunei, introduced sharia law in his country."

They later stayed for free at Cotswolds Soho Farmhouse, the countryside retreat, and at another Soho House property in Somerset. Combined, the stays would have cost more than £5,000 at usual prices.

When they got engaged and were preparing to marry, Meghan reportedly took against the "musty" smell of St George's Chapel in Windsor

Organisers used Diptyque Baies diffusers, at a cost of £130 each. The diffusers were "provided by" the company according to the book.

The couple then used a friend's private jet to go on a secret honeymoon after the wedding. The cost of the trip remains unknown as the destination was never made public.

A few months later they flew to their friends George and Amal Clooney's house on Lake Como, using their private jet, at a reported cost of £13,260.

They also took trips to the Norwegian Arctic Circle, spending a week in a cabin at a cost of about £5,000 in 2017, and Australia, where a "real-estate billionaire" loaned them his house for an evening in 2018.

The following year Elton John flew them from Ibiza to his Nice home in his private jet, which would normally have cost around £6,000.

When Meghan had her baby shower in New York in February 2019, friends including Serena Williams paid for the event in the Mark Hotel - at an estimated cost of £328,000.

She flew home to London with Amal Clooney, on a flight that would usually have cost around £50,000.

Later in the year Harry was flown out by private jet to Google's eco-summit to address the "global elite". The trip reportedly cost £11,388 and was paid for by the tech giant.

In November 2019 the couple stayed at a Vancouver mansion for about five months from November 2019 to March 2020, according to the book.

They reportedly paid well below market rent for the property, which would normally have cost up to £75,000 for the stay.

Read more

Harry and Meghan volunteer with local LA charity Baby2Baby

Meghan tells women voters: ‘If you are complacent, you’re complicit’

Meghan 'devastated' to return to US and see 'state of affairs'

Granny Doria is first visitor to Harry and Meghan's $15m mansion

Meghan Markle says voting in 2020 election is a ‘fundamental right’