What Is Baby Archie's Net Worth?
Everyone knows that babies are expensive, right? Royal babies go one step further — sure, those designer strollers and cashmere blankets cost big bucks, but these babies generate big bucks, too. With Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcoming baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor into their lives in the early morning on May 6th, 2019 (he's a Taurus, by the way), we're all wondering: How much is Baby Sussex worth?
According to Fortune, Meghan Markle earned $3.15 million during her time filming television series Suits, while Time estimates her overall net worth to be around $5 million. Harry inherited more than half of the Queen Mother’s $18 million estate, alongside the approximately $13 million left to him from his own late mother, Princess Diana. If you factor in the couple's royal real estate, investments, and personal items (like that stellar engagement ring – worth about $350,000 alone), their overall combined net worth comes in at a healthy $30 million.
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What does all this say about baby Archie? Harry and Meghan’s baby is going to be worth quite a lot, beyond his future inheritance from mummy and daddy. However if we're talking dollar-amounts connected to royal kids, the most important figure is how much money they bring IN to the economy – from products, to tourism, to marketing opportunities and raising the profile of British brand names.
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This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a tiny tot who is worth a lot. Princess Charlotte is worth a staggering $5 billion, outshining her brother, Prince George, who is worth about $3.6 billion. The reason? Girls carry a larger potential for fashion influence. Valuation experts at Brand Finance Group predicted when Charlotte was an infant that she will have a larger influence than her brother, due to the fashion and marketing opportunities that brands have when a little princess wears their pieces.
We’ve seen this type of economic phenomenon before, dubbed the “Kate Effect” and the “Meghan Effect.” The Meghan Effect is simple: If Meghan wears it, touches it, mentions it, or basically stands near it, it turns to gold (or, rather, it turns to sold-out). When Meghan wore a pair of Finley & Co “Percy” sunglasses in September 2017, sales increased by 1,000 percent, and remain steady to this day. Her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry brought in an estimated $500 million to the British economy through tourism alone. Meghan’s fashion choices have pumped over $200 million into the British economy, according to economists at Brand Finance. Time will only tell what kind of economic impact Archie will have, and whether he'll be a rising style star in his own right.
Brands are already cashing in, hoping to get a slice of that new Royal Baby cake. Lauren Levy, co-founder of baby clothing brand Magnetic Me, spoke about their celebratory collection created to mark the birth of Baby Sussex. Speaking of the economic opportunities, Levy said, “We honestly didn’t think that anything could come close to as big of a worldwide royal phenomenon as Prince George — until Prince Harry married an American.” Clearly, Mom's American roots bring an exciting twist to the fairytale.
Levy expects to see a larger economic impact when the children are older, rather than a huge boom in their baby clothes. “You saw how there was a glimpse of a certain brand’s swaddle on Prince George in those first pictures in front of the hospital after he was born and it crashed the swaddle company’s website.” While she says there hasn’t been a massive “Kate Effect” on the baby industry, she thinks Meghan’s children could have an economic impact as they get older. “I think [Meghan] will follow Kate when it comes to staying brand-neutral with the baby in public. When the kids get older, it could be very different."
VIDEO: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Make Their First Public Debut with Baby Sussex
One thing is certain: Meghan and Harry’s baby is going to bring a lot of influence along with those chubby cheeks and sweet smiles. From the baby’s first blanket, to the car seat he rides home in, you can bet that the Royal Baby Effect will turn all that baby gear into solid gold.
