CBS Paid A Pretty Penny For The Royal Exclusive

This story is brought to you by The Daily Upside. For more crisp and insightful content, you can sign up for the free Daily Upside newsletter here.

Last night Meghan Markle and Prince Harry spilled the tea on why they fled Buckingham Palace for California.

In order to snag exclusive rights to the Oprah-led interview, CBS paid Lady O’s production company, Harpo Productions, between $7 million and $9 million. Talk about a princely sum.

Watching The Throne

Last year the prince and Ms. Markle stepped down from the throne and relinquished their duties as senior royals. As a result, the power couple no longer receives a stipend from Harry’s father, Prince Charles, or funds from the U.K. taxpayers.

But with a premium lifestyle and not-so-humble abode to pay for, the couple has been hustling to bring in income:

• Last year they inked a Netflix production deal worth a reported $100 million.
• The couple also attempted to trademark the brand “Sussex Royal,” but were stonewalled by British officials.

For its part, CBS was going to try to make a pound sterling or two. CBS was asking $325,000 for a 30-second ad on yesterday's interview, roughly double the cost of other primetime Sunday events.

The Takeaway: A spokesperson for the couple told the WSJ the royals didn’t receive any share of the Harpo licensing fee.