Meghan Markle vs. Kate Middleton: Which Duchess Has The Higher Net Worth?

One of them may be preparing to be the eventual Queen Consort of England and the other is pursuing a life outside of royal circles, but their divergent paths don’t mean Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle don’t both still have impressive and stunning fortunes.

Markle, who is celebrating her 39th birthday, and Middleton, who will turn 39 in January, both married into the royal family, which certainly exposed them both to immense levels of wealth through not only public funding that helped finance their lives with Prince William and Prince Harry but also personal fortunes that each man has. However, while their personal fortunes certainly weren’t as high as the ones their husbands have, neither woman was worth an amount that wasn’t impressive either.

In February 2019, it was reported that the Duchess of Cambridge was worth anywhere between $9-$13 million due to money through her own family. At the time, it was stated that her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton had seen their party-planning business grow to a valuation of $54 million. In addition, there was a seven-figure trust set aside by her great-grandfather which helped cover the fees that were paid for her schooling, as well as that of her siblings, Pippa and James.

The Middleton family’s net worth is also believed to come from stakes in racehorses and a large number of properties that they own as well.

Middleton did also hold two part-time jobs prior to her marriage, one as an accessory buyer for Jigsaw and another helping at her parents’ business, but it’s unclear what she might have actually made in those roles. Financially speaking, if she hadn’t married into the royal family though, it is believed she would be earning £23k ($29,700) a year with a job in marketing because of the degree that she earned from the University of St. Andrews.

Meanwhile, Markle is believed to have a lower net worth of only $5 million, but it mostly all comes from her former career as an actress, which saw her star on the show “Suits,” as well as in Hallmark and other movies. Harper’s Bazaar reports that she made an estimated $57,500 per episode of “Suits,” which does account for a large portion of her worth.

While she no longer has royal funds coming in and is paying for certain things on her own now that she and Prince Harry have stepped down, Meghan Markle could potentially work on amassing a larger net worth now that she is a private citizen. While Middleton would potentially be making less than $30,000 a year, if Markle picked up where she left off with her acting career, she could earn an estimated $450,000 a year.

Regardless of what the future holds for the Duchess of Sussex though, one thing can likely be certain on her 39th birthday—and that is that she is likely celebrating the event with her husband and one-year-old son, Archie Harrison.