Even before Meghan Markle donned the title of Duchess of Sussex, her estranged half-sister Samantha Markle was making waves in headlines across the world for her scathing interviews, and it has reportedly earned her a royal sum.
Although it is not known exactly how much Samantha has raked in from her various TV and radio appearances over the course of the past year-and-a-half, Refinery29 estimates that she has added upwards of $100,000 to her bank account, with it possible that the sum is even higher.
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Appearing on the Em, Grant and Ed radio show in May, Samantha revealed that at the time, she was paid $1,500 per interview, an amount that has likely skyrocketed given her increased notoriety.
“Just to give people a snapshot of how it really was — if I do one interview and they pay me $1,500, 10,000 publications will copy that and write their own story, that’s how it works,” she said.
Just months later, in July, in emails between Samantha and producers at The Domenick Nati Show, an iHeartRadio show, she stated that her “minimum was much higher” than that $1,500 payment.
Samantha is not the only one being given royal paychecks for interviews. Her father, Thomas Markle Sr., reportedly scored a $9,000 payout for an appearance on Good Morning Britain in which he slammed the Royal Family, even claiming that the late Princess Diana would be ashamed of how the British Royals were treating his daughter’s extended family.
Despite the lump sum payments and the harsh critiques, Samantha recently seemed to backtrack, issuing an apology to her sister on Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show Monday.
“I would just say that there’s so much water under the bridge and so much has been out of control that was never intended to. I think everybody was hurt at not being included or invited to the wedding,” she said. “I felt it could’ve all been nipped in the bud had everyone been included and we all agreed to move forward with positive resolve. The hurt feelings wouldn’t have snowballed but, believe it or not, it doesn’t mean we don’t love you any less.”
Samantha’s apology came after the Markle family drama reportedly reached a boiling point for the Royal Family, forcing Palace royal aides to hold a number of top-level crisis meetings in an attempt to put an end to the interviews.
While Samantha has not made any TV or radio appearances since issuing her apology, she has taken to her Twitter account to blast Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland.
