Xanet Scheepers

By Xanet Scheepers

Digital Lifestyle Editor


This is how much money the Royals would earn if they had normal jobs

Data revealed that it would have taken Kate Middleton 143 years to earn her fortune if she only had her university degree going for her.


The British Royal Family are living a fairy tale life, or what appears to be one, to the public eye.

They have the best clothes, the best houses, the best vacations and servants galore.

While they might have 99 other problems, including Prince Andrew’s recent sex assault scandal and Prince Harry and Megan Markle cutting ties with the family, money is most certainly not a concern for them.

The Royal family has ruled England for approximately 1,200 years, and one can’t help but wonder how long the Brits are still willing to put up with paying for the royals’ extravagant lifestyles.

According to international research data and analytics group, YouGov, a fifth of Britons are supporting the notion to abolish the monarchy.  

The data revealed that 41% of 18 – 24-year-olds feel that Britain should have an elected head of state, with only 31% wanting the monarchy to continue.

With the support for the Royal family dwindling, experts from WellBox, took it upon themselves to research how well the British Royal Family would fare if they had to survive in today’s job market and rely on their university degrees to make a living.

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These are the six royals who would earn the most money based on their university degrees:

Prince William

Coming in the number one spot is Prince William who, if he had to only use his MA degree in geography to make a living, would have had the potential to earn £115,000 (R 2 269 912,24) a year if he became a commercial surveyor or environmental consultant.

However, most typical geography graduates earn an average annual salary of £50,000 (R 986 853,56) a year.

Prince William / Picture: Instagram

Princess Eugenie

Princess Eugenie, the second child of the Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson would have been richer than both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle if she wasn’t born into royalty.

Princess Eugenie has a BA in English Literature, Politics and History of Art.

Potential jobs for her include Archivist or an Art Gallery Director which would have seen her earning a potential of £60,000+ (R 1 183 087,23) a year.

Princess Eugenie got married to Jack Brooksbank at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in October 2018 and she is actually currently working full-time as a director at art gallery Hauser & Wirth.

Princess Eugenie potential salary
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank / Picture: Instagram

Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle who married Prince Harry on 19 May 2018, graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in Theatre and International Relations.

As an international aid worker or theatre stage manager, Meghan could have earnt up to £50,000 ((R 986 853,56) a year, but instead pursued a career in acting where she was rumoured to have earnt £350,000 (R6 907 183,81) a year – double the potential salary of her brother-in-law, Prince William.

British Royal Family potential salary
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Picture: iStock

Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge

Following close on the heels of her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, who became The Duchess of Cambridge after marrying Prince William on 29 April 2011 could have made her fortune as an arts heritage manager or administrator – earning up to £70,000 (R1 379 455,19) a year, but with an average annual salary of £30,000 (R 591 254,40) for more entry-level positions.

According to a statement from Journalistic.org, it would take the Duchess 143 years to earn this fortune based on her university degree alone.

Kate Middleton turns 40
Picture: Instagram

Princess Beatrice

Princess Beatrice, who is tenth in line of succession to the British throne has a BA in History and History of Ideas. As a Historic Buildings Inspector or History Teacher she could have potentially earned £60,000 (R1 183 642,20) if her father wasn’t Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

Prince Charles

Surprisingly, Prince Charles, who is first in line to the British throne to succeed his mother Queen Elizabeth II and the royal with the highest highest estimated net worth on the list at £400 million, would receive the lowest salary based on his university degree.

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If Prince Charles wasn’t a future king, he could have have become an archaeologist or community development worker earning an average annual salary of £22,000 (R 434 172,95) a year – or £41,000 (R 809 140,50 ) at the highest end, but it would take him almost 10,000 years to match his estimated net worth.

Camilla and Prince Charles
14 October 2021: Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (R) and Britain’s Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (L) leave after attending the ceremonial opening of the sixth Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, in Cardiff, Wales | Picture: Jacob King / AFP

A breakdown of The British Royal Family members’ potential salaries and their estimated Net Worth:

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