Trouble with the tax authorities Millions in donations missing from Harry and Meghan's foundation

Carlotta Henggeler

1.10.2024

Prince Harry at the coronation ceremony of King Charles III in May 2023.
Prince Harry at the coronation ceremony of King Charles III in May 2023.
Andy Stenning/AP/dpa

It's nothing new that the royal family is not on good terms with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle. But now the couple are in danger of falling out of favor elsewhere: The US tax authorities are hot on their heels because of missing donations.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • The US Internal Revenue Service has set its sights on Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's Archewell charity.
  • The Archewell organization must pay tax on the donations it receives.
  • However, four million dollars are missing from the current tax return, which the authorities are now investigating.

The US tax authorities generally don't take a joke. The next few weeks are likely to be quite tricky for Prince Harry (40) and his wife Meghan (43).

According to the British Daily Mail, the tax authorities have their charity Archewell in their sights. It concerns four million dollars in donations that are said to have disappeared from the tax return.

In 2020, Meghan and Harry founded the Archewell Foundation, which collects donations as a charitable organization under the motto "Be there and do good" and wants to use them for good causes - primarily for organizations that take care of people's mental health.

The published tax documents suggest that there could be a problem with the correct implementation. This is because donations must be declared and taxed in the USA. However, only two million of the six million dollars in donations that can be proven to have been made to the Archewell Foundation in 2022/23 can be found in the recently submitted documents. So what happened to the missing four million?

US Treasury: Grace period for Meghan and Harry until November

Archewell already came under the spotlight a few months ago after the organization was temporarily assessed as "delinquent" in May because tax documents had been submitted too late and incomplete. This did not cast a good light on the organization, which, according to the Daily Mail, is already the subject of many rumours that it gives donors the opportunity to contribute their money anonymously - and avoid paying tax.

However, there is a possibility that Archewell will still properly declare the missing millions. Under US law, donations can be split over two years. However, if the four million cannot be found in the next documents due at the end of November, things could get tight for Harry and Meghan. And expensive.


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