5 Financial Lessons From Prince Harry

Modern royal husband. Party-loving wild child. Military hero.

Prince Harry has adopted a number of public personas in his colorful life. But a new biography of Prince Harry, to coincide with his marriage to American actress Meghan Markle on May 19, reveals plenty of evidence that his perspective on finance is closer to a citizen than a sovereign.

Here are five intriguing finance stories from “Harry: Life, Loss, and Love,” a new biography of the Prince by royal author and broadcaster Katie Nicholl:

1. When Prince Harry was five years old, he went shopping with his mother Diana, Princess of Wales and his brother Prince William to a shop in Kensington, West London.

“Typically, members of the Royal Family did not carry any cash on them, but Diana felt it imperative that her children understand the value of money and gave them pocket money that they were allowed to spend on such trips to the shops,” Nicholl writes. But when Harry attempted to buy a superhero comic, chocolate bar and a pack of chewy sweets, he found he didn’t have enough pocket money to cover all three items.

Rather than throw a tantrum over his lack of means, Nicholl notes, “Harry behaved so well, putting back the sweets, that Diana decided he deserved a cheeseburger and French fries. So the three of them headed to the nearest McDonald’s, where William and Harry ordered their own meals and carried their Happy Meals to a table in the corner, not far from their discreetly placed protection officers, who were busy tucking into their own burgers.”

2. Harry is no slouch when it comes to the art of charity fundraising.

In 2007 Bryn Parry and his wife Emma Parry launched the charity Help for Heroes (H4H) to improve facilities for British servicemen and women. Media coverage of the initiative was extensive and the charity received support from the likes of Simon Cowell, Michael Caine and Sharon Osbourne.

But when Harry and his brother William backed the charity, according to Nicholl, it “catapulted the charity into a different sphere altogether. When both princes wore the charity’s wristbands at a football match, it swiftly became a household name.” Bryn Parry says in the book, “They both raised their arms and showed the wristbands and of course [popular British newspaper] The Sun jumped on it and it became the thing, in many ways. You almost didn’t want not to be seen to wear a wristband after that.”

3. Prince Harry might be a scion of a family valued by business consultancy Brand Finance as being worth $88 million. But like most other people, he has had financial disputes with girlfriends that ended up impairing his relationships.

Between 2012 and 2014, the Prince dated model and actress Cressida Bonas. “They had been due to fly to Tennessee for the wedding of his friend Guy Pelly, who was marrying the Holiday Inn heiress Lizzy Wilson,” Nicholl writes. “Cressida had had to save up for the economy air ticket, but when she found out that Harry planned to spend part of the weekend on a belated stag night with his friends, she decided the expensive weekend away was going to be a waste of money.”

“There was a bit of a row about how much it was costing her and Cressida decided not to go, which upset Harry, so he went off to Memphis with his brother in a bit of a huff.” The pair split up not long afterwards.

4. Harry is most definitely marrying Meghan Markle for love, not for money.

Nicholl writes: “Meghan’s father filed for bankruptcy in June 2016. While he had earned a good salary working for ABC, there had since been leaner times.” She quotes her stepmother Rosalyn saying of her father, “He went through tough times, sometimes washing dishes to pay the rent and he bordered on homelessness at times, but he worked really hard.”

5. Harry seems to have a refreshing sense of humor about material possessions.

While serving with the British army in Afghanistan in 2007, Prince Harry had a practical joke played on him by his troop commander Captain Dickon Leigh-Wood, which was inspired by his then-girlfriend Chelsea Davy.

“Harry carried a picture of Chelsy with him and told his fellow soldiers about his girlfriend,” writes Nicholl. “On Valentine’s Day he received a pair of knickers, which caused his fellow officers to tease him mercilessly. Harry thought the purple-and-yellow briefs were a joke present from Chelsy, and he tied them to the grill of his Spartan for a laugh”

“In fact, the underwear belonged to a stripper and was a parting gift from Captain Leigh-Wood, who was heading home for a brief respite from the front line.”

“Harry: Life, Loss, and Love” by Katie Nicholl is published by Hachette Books