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It’s hard to believe eight years have passed since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tied the knot during their big Windsor wedding.
To celebrate the milestone, Meghan Markle released a collection of unseen photos of her and Prince Harry from the occasion.
The glamorous images show Harry twirling Meghan across the dance floor as she glows in her halter‑neck Givenchy gown before a passionate embrace.
It’s easy to get swept up in the nostalgia — to remember a time when the “fab four” narrative still felt possible, when the Waleses and the Sussexes were poised to usher in a fresh royal era together.
But of course, we now know the cracks were already forming behind the scenes.
Tensions over bridesmaid dresses left Meghan and Princess Catherine in tears days earlier, and the picture‑perfect façade masked a relationship already under strain.
If the past can look so different in hindsight, what perspective does it offer on where Harry and Meghan stand now and what their future holds?
For better or worse
On May 19, Meghan shared a video of Harry giving her a meaningful gift to mark their eighth wedding anniversary.
In the footage, her Prince Charming surprises her with a bronze sculpture of two penguins nestled closely together.
Bronze is the traditional gift for this milestone, symbolising strength and durability in marriage. But for Harry and Meghan, the choice carried a more personal meaning, something she explains to their children in a voice‑over.
“When Mama and Papa got engaged, we had a party with all of our friends, and we said, ‘Everyone wear an animal onesie,’” she tells Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. “We were penguins. Because we’re together for life.”
While critics love to put an expiry date on the Sussex marriage, a source close to the couple tells me that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“After everything they’ve been through, Harry and Meghan still can’t get enough of each other,” the source says. “They are fully committed to being in this for life.”
It doesn’t come as a surprise. Anyone who has ever been in an “us‑against‑the‑world” relationship will recognise how intoxicating that can be.
I’ve seen that affection up close. When I joined the Sussexes in Sydney in April as they carried out engagements for the Invictus Games on the harbour, their connection was unmistakable in their quiet glances and the instinctive reach for each other’s hand.
It didn’t feel performative. If anything, it looked like a way of grounding each other, a private tether in a very public storm.
But love doesn’t protect you from pressure. And there is one part of their lives that is believed to be making the pair “wildly unhappy”, that could have very real repercussions for their future.
For richer or poorer
On Instagram, Meghan continues to project a beautifully curated life with her sun‑drenched garden, glossy kitchen and the children helping her out.
But just as on their wedding day, the picture‑perfect exterior belies tension behind the scenes.
According to multiple sources, the couple may only have five good years left before their financial reality shifts dramatically.
Princess Diana’s trusted biographer Andrew Morton, who lives close to the Sussexes in California, once described Montecito to me as an “idyllic paradise”. It is, but that comes at a cost.
Reports suggest Harry and Meghan are facing mounting financial pressure as they burn through cash at a rapid pace.
Harry inherited around $20 million from Princess Diana when he turned 30, money that helped fund the purchase of their $21 million 16‑bedroom estate in 2020.
“I’ve got what my mum left me, and without that we would not have been able to do this,” he told Oprah Winfrey during their 2021 sit‑down.
Though, the inheritance wasn’t enough to buy it outright. Dan Wakeford, a former magazine editor who Meghan authorised friends to speak with for two cover stories, reveals sources have confirmed the property has multiple mortgages attached in his Celebrity Intelligence newsletter.
On his 40th birthday in 2024, Harry received another lifeline in the form of a multi‑million‑dollar lump sum from his great‑grandmother, the Queen Mother.
But it is impossible to imagine any further royal windfalls coming their way — not after years of public criticism directed at the monarchy from across the Atlantic. The bulk of King Charles’ private fortune will inevitably flow to William and his children.
Without taxpayer‑funded security, Harry reportedly spends between $3 million and $4 million per year on round‑the‑clock protection for his family.
While multi-million dollar deals were once inked with Netflix and Spotify, these are mostly over, with the couple taking home far less than the figures initially touted as a number of their pitches were spiked by the platforms.
However, where they really burn through cash is thanks to Harry courts cases in his mission to hold the British media to account.
“The inheritance has largely been spent on the house and the legal trials,” Wakeford says he was told by an insider.
Another source offered a very blunt assessment of their future. “Five years, roughly. That’s the window before their lifestyle looks a lot different.”
Drastic times, drastic measures
When Meghan returned to Los Angeles, she dreamed of becoming a Hollywood power player — a showrunner with the clout of Shonda Rhimes.
But the reality has been far more complicated. While Harry & Meghan was a global hit for Netflix, other projects have struggled to gain traction.
The polo reality series fizzled and her cooking and lifestyle show failed to generate the buzz Netflix had hoped for.
That dream may still come true with new content in development, including a scripted polo drama and a film adaptation of No Way Out, Major Adam Jowett’s Afghan war memoir, but it will take time that the pair may not have.
Fairly or not, much of that pressure to support themselves lands squarely on Meghan. Harry attracts fewer headlines for “cashing in” because he isn’t bringing in the same level of income.
Having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, his focus remains on Invictus and charitable work. It is the world he knows best and the one he feels most at home in.
But that leaves Meghan shouldering the burden of becoming the primary breadwinner, constantly having to come up with new ideas and ventures until she finds the thing that will save them.
The one project that has genuinely excited Hollywood insiders is talk of a potential Suits reunion film — a full‑circle moment that could deliver Meghan the comeback she’s been quietly chasing as she reconnects with her fans from before her royal life.
So far, she has been reluctant to step back in front of the camera as someone other than herself but with the clock ticking on their finances, the stakes have never been higher and she may have no choice.
If Meghan can land the project that finally sticks — the one that proves she’s more than the palace’s most famous export — the next chapter could look very different.
Because right now the question isn’t whether they love each other. It’s whether love is enough to keep the dream alive when the bills come due.
Read more expert opinion and analysis in WHO’s The Royal Verdict with Kylie Walters here.
