Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made international headlines after announcing their new foundation, Archewell. A recent report from The Daily Mail shows that instead of millions or billions of dollars the couple intended to raise, emulating the Clintons and the Gates, the former royals were only able to raise a paltry $50,000.

Ouch, that’s got to hurt.

Especially considering the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge received nearly £12 million.

For the uber wealthy, they often create a foundation where they can put in their own money, or other people’s money, to expand their interests.

Recently divorced couple Bill and Melinda Gates are a great example. 

Their Gates Foundation has received an endowment from the couple of a staggering $36 billion between 1994 and 2018. Warren Buffet also donated more than $29 billion, meaning that their organization rivals the budgets of several small countries. It’s an unfathomable amount of money.

The Clinton Foundation is a little shadier. Started by former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, during its initial year while the former First Lady was serving as Secretary of State, the Foundation raised nearly $250 million. 

The Foundation’s financial resources plummeted 75% to $16 million this year, falling ever since Hillary’s failed election bid and questions over whether the funds were being used to help curry favor with the then Secretary of State. There have also been allegations that Chelsea Clinton used the Foundation as essentially her own piggy bank for her wedding.

Then, there’s the Archewell, which encompasses the nonprofit the Archewell Foundation and the for-profit Archewell Audio and Archewell Productions.

On their website, the couple claims that “At Archewell, we unleash the power of compassion to drive systemic cultural change.”

However, it more sounds like the Foundation is draining the couple’s bank accounts.

The Daily Mail has revealed that in 2020, in the initial months after its founding, the organization made a paltry $50,000 and only opened a bank account in January 2021.

Given the amount of publicity that they received after their Megxit decision in early 2020, it’s clearly a reflection of a lack of interest in the couple’s activities and explains why a simple $25 Starbucks gift card to no more than 25 people was a cause for publicity.

They simply have nothing else to offer.

At this point, the small amount of donations that came in doesn’t even remotely cover their staffing needs, of which would be rather large as they’ve hired some incredibly qualified and business savvy people who would require six-figure salaries. Without Prince Harry’s inheritance, they could probably only afford to hire one part-time assistant at minimum wage with that amount of money.

Clearly, the interest in Archewell beyond the headlines is minimal.

The couple continue to make waves, but people don’t trust what they’re selling. To give money to two ex-royals without a clear objective and goals is just throwing money into the abyss. 

The recent announcement that the couple are interested in selling their home, and potentially downsizing, is a sign that things are not all good on the Sussex front. While taking a smaller home might be seen as humiliating to Meghan, it may be her and Harry’s only way out as well. 

As it turns out, the public is more cautious than Meghan expected, and aren’t willing to hand the couple money just because they have royal titles.

The reason why Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, were able to raise so much more money, despite their royal titles, is that people know where that money is going. With Harry and Meghan, there have been genuine concerns that the couple were going to use the Foundation to enrich themselves and not others. 

It seems like this year hasn’t been kind to Archewell either, as Harry and Meghan’s donations through their Foundation have remained rather small.