Meghan and Harry trademark ‘Sussex Royal’ brand in move that could contribute to their push for ‘financial independence’

The royal couple’s plan for “financial independence” appears to have been in motion for months – and includes one particularly striking tactic.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s announcement yesterday that they were quitting as “senior” royals sparked a lot of questions.

One of the more intriguing ones was how, exactly, the couple intended to achieve their stated goal of becoming “financially independent”.

“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty the Queen,” Harry and Meghan said.

RELATED: Harry and Meghan’s absurd definition of ‘financial independence’

We’re beginning to get a clearer picture of what that could mean.

Harry and Meghan have sought to trademark Sussex Royal for a whole range of potential products. Picture: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

The pair appear to have started laying a foundation for their plans all the way back in June of last year, when their advisers applied to trademark the brand “Sussex Royal” in the United Kingdom for dozens and dozens of items, ranging from clothing to stationery.

The Guardian reports that move came a couple of months after a failed attempt, by someone in Malta, to trademark Sussex Royal for a bunch of products. It didn’t go anywhere, because the word “royal” has special protections under Britain’s intellectual property laws.

Perhaps Meghan and Harry’s application was merely intended to prevent others from using their personal brand to flog knock-off products. But since those products would have been illegal anyway, the more likely explanation is that they want to sell their own stuff.

The official application published by Britain’s Intellectual Property Office in December lists well over a hundred items – books, magazines, posters, stationery, pens and pencils, footwear, headgear, T-shirts, coats, jackets, dresses and pyjamas, just to name a few.

The "Sussex Royal" trademark encompasses hundreds of items under the categories of printed matter, clothing, campaigning, charitable fundraising, education and social care services. https://t.co/lImPfqddol

— CNN (@CNN) January 9, 2020

Harry and Meghan prepare to flood the world with Sussex merch. Lots of trademark applications: T-shirts, hats, pajamas, everything... https://t.co/izMytyGMY5 pic.twitter.com/mM7WSG1UAD

— Byron York (@ByronYork) January 9, 2020

It also includes a range of services, such as education, social care, emotional support groups, conferences, webinars, wellness training and so forth. These are the sorts of services and events you would expect the couple’s charitable foundation to organise.

It’s worth mentioning that in September, Meghan also quietly renewed the trademark for her old lifestyle website The Tig, which she shut down shortly before meeting Harry in 2017. As she steps back from life as a senior royal, she could potentially relaunch it – and monetise it.

This all adds another wrinkle to the discussions now under way between the pair and Buckingham Palace.

If Harry and Meghan are stepping back from their duties, will the Queen allow them to continue using their place in the royal family to boost their personal brand?

The risk, from her perspective, is that Harry and Meghan could run a breakaway royal brand, entirely separate from the monarchy itself, and use it to make money for themselves.

At the moment, the couple’s website is unmistakably royal. Their personal logo is not exactly subtle – an M and H fused together, underneath a crown.

The couple's website flaunts their membership of the royal family. Will that be allowed to continue?

The always controversial British broadcaster Piers Morgan articulated this fear – in typically strident fashion – in his column reacting to Harry and Meghan’s announcement overnight.

“What genuinely worries me now is that the very future of the monarchy may be in serious jeopardy if these two renegades have their way and become effectively a pair of rival royals bestriding the globe acting like they’re the big dogs, doing what the hell they like and using their royal fame to line their own pockets to the tune of millions like a pair of greedy, grasping hustlers, destroying the royal brand one grubby deal at a time,” he wrote.

Morgan isn’t exactly an optimist.

Any funds raised from selling Sussex Royal branded products could always go towards Meghan and Harry’s charitable efforts, rather than straight into their own pockets.

But until they reach an arrangement with the Palace, those details remain unclear.

The couple’s dubious definition of “financial independence” from the family has already sparked a backlash.

A section on their newly revamped website deals explicitly with the subject “funding”, and makes it clear they expect to continue receiving certain public benefits.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made the choice to transition into a new working model. As they step back as senior members of the royal family and no longer receive funding through the Sovereign Grant, they will become members of the royal family with financial independence, which is something they look forward to,” it states.

“Their Royal Highnesses feel this new approach will enable them to continue to carry out their duties to Her Majesty the Queen while having the future financial autonomy to work externally.

“While the contribution from the Sovereign Grant covers just 5 per cent of costs for the Duke and Duchess and is specifically used for their official expense, their Royal Highnesses prefer to release this financial tie.”

These two already have no shortage of money. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Sovereign Grant is the public money used to fund the royal family each year. Harry and Meghan are giving up their share.

But the other 95 per cent of their costs is covered by something entirely different. In their own words, they rely on “income allocated by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, generated through the Duchy of Cornwall”.

The short explanation is that as Duke of Cornwall (among other things), Harry’s father Prince Charles receives the duchy’s income. He then passes on a chunk of it – millions of pounds a year – to his children and their partners.

The royals consider this to be “private” money, even though it is raised from the people of Cornwall.

On their website, Harry and Meghan make no mention of relinquishing their share of it – though it must be said, they don’t actually have the power to make that decision. That power rests with Charles.

Harry and Meghan also want to keep using their British residence, Frogmore Cottage, which is owned by the Queen and was recently renovated at a cost of 2.4 million pounds. It’s unclear whether she will ask them to pay rent.

And their website makes it clear they want taxpayers to continue paying for their security.