Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Burning Through Fortune — $3M Security, $38M Legal Bills and 'Only 5 Years Left' Before Lifestyle Crash

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are staring down a looming cash crunch as their lavish lifestyle spirals out of control, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Insiders are warning that their sky-high expenses are now outpacing their shrinking income after a string of failed Hollywood deals left the ex-royals' once-golden paydays drying up.

The couple's Montecito mansion continues to be a major money drain, as they're believed to have multiple mortgages on the 9-bedroom, 16-bathroom home they paid more than $14 million for in 2020 after quitting the royal family.

"They should have bought a $7 million house free and clear," a Sussex source told former People and Us Weekly Editor-in-Chief Dan Wakeford, who wrote about it in his Celebrity Intelligence newsletter.

Still owing so much money on a high-end property remains a burden, as the insider noted: "People who buy a $14 million home usually buy it outright."

Reports at the time of purchase claimed the duo paid around $5 million, with the remaining $9.5 million in the mortgage.

Harry and Markle’s over-the-top security demands are also bleeding them dry.

A source familiar with the inner workings of the Sussexes' world told Wakeford that their excessive bodyguard requirements cost an eye-watering $3 million a year, including four personnel at the Montecito house and another three bodyguards when the pair travel.

In a money-saving effort, the couple has slashed their staff of 16 full-time employees to only five between their household and Archewell companies, including each having a chief-of-staff, two TV execs, foundation consultant Shauna Nep, UK press representative Liam Maguire and a U.S. public relations agency.

An insider shared that Markle "has a sense of how careful they need to be" with money after losing their big-bucks Netflix and Spotify deals, but Harry, raised in the wealth and trappings of the royal family, "lacks basic awareness of what things cost."

Lawsuit-happy Harry is also costing the duo a fortune in legal bills to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

His current privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers has racked up a $38 million tab alone. The case is currently in the hands of a judge, who will share his ruling in the next few months.

As a result, the massive inheritances Harry received from his late mother and great-grandmother have been "substantially" absorbed.

The prince received an estimated $10 million from Princess Diana upon turning 30 in 2014. Harry's latest payday was in 2024, when he received an estimated $10.5 million from a trust established by the Queen Mother in 1994.

"The inheritance has largely been spent on the house and the legal trials," one insider spilled.

After seemingly blowing through their Netflix and Spotify windfalls and dipping deep into Harry’s inheritance, the cash-strapped couple is now bracing for a harsh financial reality, with no reliable income stream to prop up their lavish lifestyle.

"Five years, roughly. That’s the window before their lifestyle looks a lot different," a source warned, predicting the shift will become impossible to hide.

PR guru Mark Borkowski pointed out that the duo hitching their brand to rehashing old royal resentments is a tired narrative that no longer brings in the big bucks.

"There’s only so much money you can make out of grievance, and they have exhausted the assets that they have. The diminishing returns became the narrative," he explained. "Show business in America now is based on what is the commercial return on investment. One failure and out."