When Princess Eugenie of York married Jack Brooksbank [1] on Oct. 12, a lot of commentary was made on the the idea of Princess Eugenie as a "nonworking" royal [2] — that is, one who has a real job in the real world rather than carrying out royal duties [3] full-time. And it's not just Eugenie (whose job is as a director of an art gallery): many of the lower-ranked royals [4] hold full-time jobs. Her sister Princess Beatrice [5], for instance, works in the business world for software company Afiniti, and her cousin Peter Philips (son of Princess Anne), is the managing director for Sports Entertainment Limited. But top-tier royals don't hold full-time "real" jobs — as Meghan Markle [6] found out when she married Prince Harry [7] and had to give up her acting career [8]. Without a normal job, how does the duchess make money now?

While the Duchess of Sussex [9] doesn't officially draw a salary or allowance of her own, she's pretty well covered by the royal family. Her expenses, along with those of her husband and of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge [10], are generally covered by the taxpayer and income from Harry's father's holdings of the Duchy of Cornwall. After Prince Charles pays his voluntary taxes [11] on the duchy's revenue, the remaining funds help support him and his children. Prince Harry also receives a significant annual allowance from the estate of his late mother, and we imagine Meghan's lifestyle is also funded by this income. In return, she — and the other royals — are expected to carry out a full-time load of royal duties [12], from charity work [13] to touring engagements and more.

Meghan is not drawing a salary now, but she used to, and those checks are still coming in. Although she was written off of Suits [14] following her engagement, episodes featuring her character [15] still air in syndication, so she pulls in residuals from that. She also recently sold her previous home in Toronto for a cool $1.6 million, so while she might have been a "commoner" prior to her marriage, she most certainly was not a pauper.