Will Harry and Meghan boost Invictus coffers?

LET’S hope that Meghan gives Prince Harry’s charity a boost when she flies to Dusseldorf with him next week for a launch event for the Invictus Games in Germany.

For newly released figures disclose that the Invictus Games Foundation’s income fell last year.

According to the accounts filed at Companies House, income dipped by almost a third, from £1.77 million in 2020 to £1.24 million in 2021.

And that fall came despite the charity receiving 40 per cent of its fee from Netflix for Heart Of Invictus, the Duke of Sussex’s forthcoming documentary about the Invictus Games, which he established in 2014 to help wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women.

‘It’s a very worthy cause, and its income is still impressive, but Invictus could have done better,’ a charity expert claims.

Income at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation soared last year.

Recently released figures reported that the foundation, which Harry and Meghan quit in 2019, increased its income by 73 per cent over 2020, to a record £20.4 million last year.

An Invictus Games spokesman declines to say how much it received from Netflix but the fee is part of the £450,000 it declares as ‘sponsorship and programme rights’ in its accounts.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reported to have signed a deal worth as much as £75 million with the U.S. streaming giant in 2020.

The Invictus spokesman says last year’s income is down on 2020 because the charity benefited that year from a transfer of £561,000 after Harry and Meghan left the Royal Foundation.

‘The difference in the income figures is caused by the transfer in 2020 of the Endeavour Fund, which included restricted funds and any grants attached to the Endeavour Fund, from the Royal Foundation across to the Invictus Games Foundation in 2020,’ the spokesman says.

‘ So, whilst the actual income remains level across the years from a fundraising perspective, that transfer caused a spike in the 2020 figures.

‘The fundraising income for the charity, in which part of the Netflix fee is included, is consistent across the years.’