Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell empire is back in the spotlight and this time it’s the numbers that do the talking.
New financial filings for 2024 paint a confusing picture behind the shiny name change to “Archewell Philanthropies,” with donations plummeting, vague expenses soaring, and year-end liabilities ballooning in ways that have left charity watchers openly baffled.
Contributions fell dramatically from approximately £3.96 million in 2023 to just £1.57 million in 2024.
Insiders noted that almost all of the year’s haul appears to hinge on a single $2 million donation sent through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation that critics believe is linked to the same mystery donor who quietly funneled £7.5 million to Archewell in 2021.
Despite the drop in cash, grants remained stubbornly stable at around £975,000, and the Sussexes’ favorite causes were still well fed.
The largest portion went to “Project Welcome”, split into a dozen groups, while the top checks included £112,000 to Screen Sanity for online safety, £94,000 to the NAACP and £75,000 to the Hopelab Foundation.
Notably missing out this year was Ashley Biden’s wellness project, which had previously benefited from Archewell’s generosity.
Where things really get spicy is in the spending. Employee salaries remained surprisingly high for a charity of this size, with top executives pocketing six-figure salaries even as reports emerged that staff were quietly let go during the rebrand.
By the end of 2024, Archewell’s liabilities had increased by more than £600,000 compared to the previous year.
While the foundation insists it’s all legal, watchdogs say the foundation still exceeds the threshold that requires it to file public disclosures with the IRS.
With Prince Harry and Meghan preaching transparency and compassion, Archewell’s latest figures read less like a fairy tale and more like a financial thriller.
