Prince Harry and Meghan say they didn’t mislead public with ‘financially cut off’ claim

Prince Harry has said that he did not mislead the public during his and Meghan Markle’s sensational interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In the interview, Harry claimed that he had been ‘cut off’ by his dad Prince Charles, but Charles’ annual financial report showed that Harry had received a payment of £4.45 million.

The prince explained that he had been cut off from ‘the first quarter of 2020’, which caused confusion as to whether he meant January to March, or the financial year.

The Sussexes were subsequently accused of misleading the public over their claims in the interview, with some experts even claiming that it cast doubt over other allegations made in the Oprah interview.

Harry and Meghan have now explained that there is no contradiction in their claims because Harry was referring to the first quarter of the financial year, which would be from April 2020.

A spokesperson person for the Sussexes told The Sun: “It’s inaccurate to suggest that there’s a contradiction.”

“”The duke’s comments during the Oprah interview were in reference to the first quarter of the fiscal reporting period in the UK, which starts annually in April.

“This is the same date that the ‘transitional year’ of the Sandringham agreement began and is aligned with the timeline that Clarence House referenced.”

Friend of the Sussexes Omid Scobie also added: “Despite some confusing reports, Prince Charles and Prince Harry’s timelines for the period the Sussexes’ financial support ended are the same.

“Clarence House says funding continued until last summer (Q1 of the UK’s fiscal year is April to June) and Harry told Oprah the same.”

But critics maintained that the Sussexes should have specified that they meant the first fiscal quarter, not the literal first quarter.

This meant that Harry and Meghan may have let the public think they had been cut off immediately after announcing they would be stepping back as working royals in early 2020, critics say.

One source told the Sun that the pair were “allocated a substantial sum to support them” before funding “ceased in the summer of 2020”.

The money was allocated for ‘funding the activities’ of Harry and Meghan, as well as Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The couple are now reportedly reliant on their deal with Netflix for financial support.