MPs are calling for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to “quickly” pay back the £2.4 million of public money spent renovating their Windsor home, after they signed a multi-million pound deal with Netflix. Harry and Meghan are coming under pressure to “give up” Frogmore Cottage, their UK bolthole, after they agreed to make films and television programmes for the subscription network for a rumoured £100 million. The couple, who recently bought an £11 million home in Santa Barbara with a £7.5 million mortgage, are in the process of paying back the £2.4 million at a rate of £18,000 a month, meaning it will take them 11 years to repay the British taxpayer. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, deputy chair of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, said that agreement should be “modified to pay the money back earlier”. “I’ve read all the facts of the case and clearly anyone who has borrowed taxpayers’ cash needs to pay it back as quickly as possible. “£2.4 million is a lot of money and even if you paid back £250,000 a year it would still take a decade.” The Tory MP for the Cotswolds added: “If the figures associated with the Netflix deal are correct then there is a case for it being paid back over five years rather than more than 10. “These sorts of sums are out of the reach of the vast majority of people in this country who have been trying to make ends meet during the coronavirus crisis. “While they may be sympathetic to Harry and Meghan’s situation, which is a delicate one, they will think that if the couple aren’t carrying out royal duties – and are making a lot of money in America, then they should start paying it back sooner.”
