Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have enlisted British hedge fund billionaire Ian Wace — who shares an emotional bond with the duke — in their move back to the United Kingdom.
Wace is helping finance the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s UK move, two sources exclusively told Page Six. He is said to be worth a whopping $1.2 billion.
Page Six has reached out to reps for Markle and Harry. A rep for Wace declined to comment.
The couple’s guardian angel is the founding partner, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Marshall Wace LLP — one of the largest hedge fund firms in the world that launched in 1997.
Harry, 41, and Markle, 45, have a very close relationship with the 63-year-old financier. The royals even took their children — Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5 — to Wace’s private island, called Tanera Mor, in Scotland in July, according to the Daily Mail.
The 800-acre island has been completely transformed since Wace purchased the property, as he dropped $135 million into restoring properties, planting trees, laying roads and more.
Markle posted a photo to her Instagram Story of what appears to be the Scottish Highlands in early August.
The outlet reported Harry also visited the remote island when the hedge fund tycoon purchased the property in 2017 for $2.3 million.
Like Harry, Wace is no stranger to heartbreak. He suffered a devastating loss when his first wife, Joanna, and their two young children — Guy, 4, and Alicia, 11 months — were killed in a car crash in Hampshire, England in 1994.
Wace was in the passenger seat of the Range Rover, which was being driven by his wife, who died at 34.
Harry, of course, knows tragedy well, as his mother, Princess Diana, was involved in a fatal car accident in 1997.
Markle also has an extremely close bond with Wace’s ex-wife, former model Saffron Aldridge. The couple split in 2023 and are now divorced — but remain on friendly terms.
Wace and Saffron attended a 2019 Cirque du Soleil performance at Royal Albert Hall with the royals.
The Sun reported Aldridge helped Markle learn the ropes of British aristocracy and advised her in fashion after she married the prince in 2018.
The former Ralph Lauren model is well-connected outside of her former marriage, as her half-sister is Victoria’s Secret Angel Lily Aldrige, who is married to Kings of Leon rocker Caleb Followill.
And, as if there isn’t enough connections between the Wace clan and the royal family. The father of Saffron’s eldest son Milo is Simon Astaire, who coincidentally is also the spokesman for Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
Saffron is also known for her charity work with a focus in children’s foundations — a passion also shared by Markle and Harry.
The socialite attended an event with Kate Middleton and Prince William — which marked their first outing as a married couple — in 2011.
On Aug. 20, Page Six confirmed Harry and Markle are moving back to the UK with their children six years after infamously quitting their royal duties and moving to California, a move dubbed Megxit.
“The palace was made aware of the move,” a source confirmed to us at the time, noting that Harry’s father, King Charles III, was informed just a few days prior.
“I know that Charles is the reason they are moving back,” an insider told Page Six, possibly referencing the 77-year-old’s current cancer battle.
The insider also said that Charles is looking forward to spending time with the family of four.
The children are set to start school in the UK very soon, while Harry and Meghan, who will not be resuming their royal duties, “continue with their business enterprises” while living in a “non-royal residence.”
Six days after news of their move broke, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex landed in Birmingham, England, with their children, in a private jet that set them back $120,000.
Page Six reported the Sussexes have been looking for homes in Cotswolds, which is close to King Charles and Queen Camilla’s Highgrove House.
They have yet to make a public appearance.
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