Did Meghan and Harry Get Financial Help from Oprah to Buy Their Home in Montecito?

DID OPRAH WINFREY HELP THE SUSSEXES BUY THEIR HOUSE IN MONTECITO CALIFORNIA IN EXCHANGE FOR THE INTERVIEW IN 2021?

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and her gorgeous husband Prince Harry Duke of Sussex own a stunning chateau in Montecito California which the couple bought in 2020 during the pandemic for a whopping $14 million USD dollars. 

In a recent podcast, the Duchess admitted that at first, they declined to visit the house because it was out of their budget and they did not have jobs. But she has also said that they did "everything they could" to buy the house because when they walked into it, she immediately felt "calm" "joy" and "peace."

The palatial residence is a stone's throw from Meghan and Harry's BFF Oprah Winfrey who is a gazillionaire and who owns at least 8 palatial mansions all over the United States. The couple bought the house a year after hanging out at Tyler Perry's house at the beginning of the pandemic, and, you guessed it, Tyler Perry is BFF with Oprah Winfrey and it is through Oprah that the couple got hooked up with Mr. Perry.

That all said, the question is whether Oprah was one of the people who "helped" the Sussexes buy their new home? It would make sense because if you recall, the Sussexes did an interview with Oprah in 2021, not long after they purchased their new house and they did not accept a penny for this interview. 

This never seemed particularly smart from a business perspective. Harry and Meghan are entrepreneurs by necessity because they have been cut off by the royal family while at the same time, the types of jobs they can accept are somewhat limited by their connection to the royal family. It was always mystifying why they would have given Oprah Winfrey and her production company such a big scoop without compensation. Oprah certainly did not need the freebie and the Sussexes had so much to lose by going public like that.

But was it really a freebie? Or did Oprah gift the Sussexes enough money to put down a downpayment on that Montecito house? Not that there is anything wrong with such a transaction. Oprah is allowed to give gifts to anyone she wants and the Sussexes are allowed to accept gifts from anyone they want (Just like King Charles is allowed to accept millions of dollars in suitcases from dubious characters). And, with their Spotify and Netflix deals, the Sussexes have surely paid back the talk show queen if she in fact helped them out initially.

But it would be very intriguing to find out if Oprah actually helped the Sussexes with the downpayment. This would explain why they felt they "owed" her that interview that has been such a thorn in their sides since.

image from flickr creative commons business use license