Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding is going to cost a royal fortune — here's how much
More news from the royal wedding front. Unsurprisingly, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get married on May 19th, the royal family will be millions of dollars less rich. They will, however, be rich in love — and isn’t that all that matters? Still, it’s fun to ogle famous weddings and their accompanying exorbitant price tags. British wedding planning website Bridebook used industry numbers to estimate the upcoming royal wedding cost. And boy, it’s a doozy.
Ready for it? Bridebook estimated the royal wedding cost would be $2,760,974. That number includes things like food and drink for 4,040 guests, flowers, a marquee at the venue, and Markle’s wedding dress.
But if that number seems high, it’s nothing compared to the security costs. The site estimated the final total for royal wedding security to be around $42.1 million. The number is based on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding in 2011. The reason for the high price tag? Security includes physical guards and high-end military technology that can do advanced stuff like deactivate paparazzi drones. It is the royal family, after all, so no security expense can be spared.
All in all, the total royal wedding cost comes out to about $45 million.
Wow. Want to know some other things you can buy for $45 million? You could purchase the most expensive viola in the world. Or 45 million (give or take) Dollar Menu items at McDonald’s. The opportunities are endless, really.
But there’s also an upside: All of that money is helping to fuel the U.K. economy.
The business valuation company Brand Finance estimated that the wedding will bring $680 million into the British economy. That money will mostly come from the tourism and hotel opportunities for people who want to catch a glimpse of the bride-to-be.
Meanwhile, we’ll be toasting the bride and groom with a $7 bottle of André champagne. Cheers!
