Billionaire Ian Wace Helping Fund Harry And Meghan’s UK Return, Sources Tell Page Six Amid $1.2B Fortune

LONDON — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return to the United Kingdom has been financially supported in part by British hedge fund billionaire Ian Wace, a longtime friend of the couple, according to multiple sources cited by Page Six in the days following the family’s relocation from California.

Wace, 63, is the founding partner, chief executive and chief risk officer of Marshall Wace LLP, one of the world’s largest hedge fund firms, founded in 1997. His estimated net worth stands at roughly $1.2 billion, according to Page Six’s reporting. Two sources told the outlet that Wace has been helping finance the Sussexes’ move back to Britain, though he is not believed to be covering the full cost of their relocation or ongoing expenses.

Harry, Meghan and their two children, 7-year-old Prince Archie and 5-year-old Princess Lilibet, flew privately from Los Angeles to Birmingham on Aug. 26, a trip Page Six reported cost approximately $120,000. The couple’s plans to return to the UK were first reported Aug. 20, with details of Wace’s financial involvement emerging in the days that followed.

Wace and Harry’s friendship extends beyond financial support and reportedly carries deep personal significance for both men. In 1994, Wace’s first wife, Joanna, and their two young children, 4-year-old Guy and 11-month-old Alice, were killed in a car accident in Hampshire. Wace himself had been sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle at the time of the crash. Harry, of course, lost his own mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash in Paris in 1997, a shared experience that sources say helped forge a particularly close bond between the two men over the years.

Harry first visited Wace’s private Scottish island, Tanera Mòr, in 2017, shortly after Wace purchased the property, according to the Daily Mail. More recently, in July, Harry and Meghan brought Archie and Lilibet to the same island for a private family visit, further underscoring the closeness of the relationship between the two families.

The exact amount Wace has contributed toward the Sussexes’ relocation has not been publicly disclosed. According to AOL’s reporting on the arrangement, Harry and Meghan retain their home in Montecito, California, as well as a property in Portugal, meaning their return to Britain does not represent a complete departure from their life abroad. Their new UK residence is expected to remain private, with neither Harry nor Meghan planning to resume official royal duties following the move.

Separately, a report from tabloid outlet National Examiner, cited by RealityTea, claimed the couple has not been shy about accepting broader financial support from various backers as they resettle in Britain, describing what the outlet characterized as the Sussexes’ “5-star lifestyle” and asserting that the couple intends to eventually repay any assistance they’ve received. Those specific claims regarding a wider circle of financial backers beyond Wace remain sourced solely to that tabloid report and have not been independently corroborated by other outlets covering the family’s relocation.

Commentary from celebrity gossip site Celebitchy pushed back against a separate narrative that had circulated in British media in the weeks before Wace’s involvement became public, referencing a Times of London article questioning how Harry and Meghan would afford their new life in the UK. According to that critique, British tabloids had spent years suggesting the Sussexes were financially struggling, a narrative the site argued has since been undercut by reporting confirming the couple has generated significant income through their various business ventures since stepping back from royal duties in 2020.

Beyond Wace’s financial support, Harry and Meghan are expected to continue pursuing their respective professional projects from their new base in Britain. Harry is anticipated to devote additional time to UK-based charitable work, including preparations tied to the 2027 Invictus Games, scheduled to take place in Birmingham. Meghan is expected to continue running her lifestyle brand, As Ever, from the UK, while some reports have also suggested she may be exploring a return to acting, though British actor Theo James recently dismissed as “hot air” specific rumors linking her to a role in the Netflix series “The Gentlemen.”

The couple also maintains an extended content partnership with Netflix, a relationship that has continued to generate revenue for the Sussexes since they signed their original deal with the streaming service following their departure from royal duties.

The financial support from Wace adds a new dimension to the broader public conversation surrounding Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK, which has already generated significant coverage of the family’s motivations, their children’s schooling arrangements, and the state of Harry’s relationship with other senior royals, including his brother, Prince William. King Charles separately issued a letter in recent days aimed at clarifying confusion over Harry and Meghan’s official royal status following their return, reaffirming that the couple remains outside the formal structure of working royal duties despite their physical relocation back to Britain.

With Harry and Meghan now settling into their new life in the UK, the disclosure of Wace’s financial support offers one of the more concrete details to emerge regarding how the family is managing the practical logistics of their transatlantic move, even as broader questions about their long-term financial arrangements, living situation and public role in Britain remain subjects of ongoing speculation across British and American media coverage of the family’s relocation.