Why It's Unlikely Prince Harry Will Share His Fortune With Meghan Markle After Wedding
Following news of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal engagement in December, Kensington Palace announced that the Suits star would soon become a British citizen.
Last month, Prince Harry's communication's secretary, Jason Knauf, said the 36-year-old would be 'compliant with immigration requirements at all times'.
'I can also say she intends to become a UK citizen and will go through the process of that, which some of you may know takes a number of years. She will retain her US citizenship through that process.'
However, while Markle waits for her British citizenship (estimated to take up to three years), it appears she might have some issues when it comes to paying American income tax, which throws a spanner in the works when it comes to sharing her beau's royal wealth.
It is not currently known whether the star will retain her US citizenship and take dual nationality.
When Princess Diana died Prince Harry received half of her £21.5million estate and shares a £3.5million annual allowance with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
As a result, it is widely believed Markle will be unable to receive any of her soon-to-be- husband or his family's money, or be at risk of paying income tax to the United States' Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Royal expert Marlene Koenig told The Sun: 'Even when married to a member of the British royal family, as long as she remains a US citizen she will have to pay income tax.
'If she has investments in the United States, say for example a retirement plan that she set up, if that's making money, she would have to pay up.
'This is even on money earned outside the United States. If she receives money from her husband or his family, and that's considered income, she would have to pay income tax on that.'
The publication reports that if Markle has more than £221,529 ($300,000) worth of assets in any given tax year, she'll be expected to file a document knows as a Form 8938 revealing as such, which may include foreign trusts and details of the royal family's estate that was previously undisclosed.
Seeing as the actress made approximately £36,920 for each episode of Suits and has an estimated net worth of around £3.7million, according to celebritynetworth.com, this is a very likely scenario.
Koenig added: 'Prince Harry receives no public funding.
'But it is possible there may be other family trusts that he receives money from – we don't know officially if the Queen has set up trusts for her grandchildren – it is possible.
'It's the same thing with some of the Queen Mother's money, there were rumours that there were different trusts set up, but that's not public information.
'With that sort of money, if Meghan's name is on that account, most likely she would be dinged – that would have to be reported as income in the United States.
'You can be sure that those at Buckingham Palace and those who run the accounts are looking very carefully at all of this to make sure that the royal family's money does not get reported to the IRS!'
However, you'll be happy to know that if the tables were turned and Prince Harry was to move to America, he would also be expected to file taxes to his home country.
Further proof that weddings can be a royal nightmare.
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