Employees at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Foundation are making an average salary of over £122,000 ($153,505) despite the company reporting significant losses.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex founded their Archewell Foundation charity in 2020, named after their four-year-old son Prince Archie, with the company taking on James Holt as executive director, who is known as one of Prince Harry’s closest figures, and handing him a 280 percent salary increase.
A tax return filed in the US showed Archewell Foundation donations plummeted from £10.3 million ($13million) from several donors in 2021, to just over £1.6 million ($2 million) from two donors, a significant £8.7 million ($11 million) decrease from last year.
Archewell’s executive director and president James Holt received a salary of £181,582 ($227,405), with senior strategic advisor Michael Stein pocketing £111,882 ($140,116) and co-executive director Shauna Nep taking home £74,232 ($92,994).
The average of these three paid employees is over £122,000 ($153,505).
Mr Holt has been at Archewell from the outset, but Mr Stein and Ms Nep are new employees for 2022.
Mr Holt’s salary raised a few eyebrows in the latest tax filing however, as it increased dramatically from 2021 to 2022.
The Executive Director saw his salary rise from £47,641 ($59,846) in 2021 to £181,030 ($227,405). He was also handed a £15,904 ($20,000) bonus.
Meghan, who goes by the title Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex in the accounts form, received no salary, listing one hour of work a week, alongside Harry, who also uses his Sussex title on the tax report.
The tax return shows that Harry and Meghan’s Foundation also recorded a loss of £536,357 ($674,485) due to the shortfall in donations – last year they secured a profit of more than £7.1million ($9million).
Archewell’s £7.1 million profit has largely declined, as it is used to cover the charity’s spend on projects and staff, following the decline in donations.
The charity spent £90,377 ($113,326) on legal fees, £45,678 ($57,277) on office expenses and £27,494 ($34,475) on travel.
