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| Bill Money's seldom-used retreat in Malibu has provided a much-needed refuge for nephew, Prince Harry, and his wife, Megan Markle. |
By Ariel-Mutha Tafoya
FSN Sports
Bill Money turned reflective when the subject turned to the Duke of Sussex. “I know some of the royals think I’m a bad influence, or at least not the kind of influence they’d prefer,” said the normally reclusive Black Dogs owner. “But I love my nephew, and our relationship is strong.”
Money’s relationship with Prince Harry, the self-exiled Duke of Sussex, has received more attention lately after Harry and his American wife, Meghan Markle, began living in Money’s seldom-used Malibu retreat in California. In addition, when Harry recently returned to the UK while his father, King Charles III, received cancer treatment, the prince stayed in the guest quarters of Money’s Crossfire Hurricane Club in central London. (The club is operated by Money’s son, Jesus.)
Money is Harry’s uncle by virtue of his marriage to the older sister of Princess Diana, Harry’s mother. The marriage ended in divorce shortly after Jesus’ birth, and though Money had little contact with Harry and his brother William in the two decades following Diana’s death in 1997, they have grown closer over the past five years.
“The Windsors were very protective of the boys from anyone beyond the inner circle of blood relations,” said Sir Leicester Pynchon-Bottoms, a longtime royal family watcher and heraldry expert. “We know that Diana actually was quite fond of her ex-brother-in-law—in fact, she once confided to her sister that Prince William was named for him—but that fondness did not extend to the boys’ father or Camilla.”
After Harry began to move away from the royal family’s orbit, sources say, he began to seek out his uncle Bill. In recent months, the two have been seen together in Los Angeles multiple times, and in Nashville meeting with NFFA Commissioner Bernie Sanders. Sources with the Black Dogs would not confirm a rumor that Harry and Meghan will be in the owner’s box for opening day next month at Black Dog Stadium.
During his “residency” at the Crossfire Hurricane, Harry and his first cousin, Jesus, have grown particularly close, insiders say, and have been seen jet-skiing together on the Thames (a favorite activity that Jesus refers to as “walking on water”). One highly placed source suggested that nightclub life had been “liberating” for the prince but refused to comment on reports that a drunken Harry, urged on by Mick Jagger, had performed “Brown Sugar” for Meghan during one of the club’s regular karaoke nights.
Though Harry and his brother remain bitterly estranged, Money maintains a “rather jolly” relationship with Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, according to Pynchon-Bottoms. “He must be circumspect, of course, but I believe the prince enjoys occasional opportunities to slip away for a few hours when his uncle is in London.
“We are told by some inside the palace that Money might even be working to become a bridge toward reconciliation between the princes.”
Ironically, of course, Money is not the only tie between NFFA and the royal family. After the Bakers relocated to London, team owner QCurl Sharif became a close confidante to Queen Elizabeth II, receiving a knighthood and an estate in Devonshire. Prince Phillip was reported to be a frequent guest at wild soirees thrown by Sir Q at his infamous London club, the One-Eyed Pig.
“Since Her Majesty’s death, Sir Q’s influence at court appears to have waned, as King Charles is a very high-minded sort, while Bill Money’s star is ascending,” said Pynchon-Bottoms. “The days are gone when the queen, on the opening Sunday of each new American football season, would cheekily order that the Bakers’ flag be hoisted briefly above Buckingham Palace in place of the Union Jack.”
Even so, the noted royal-watcher noted, Money’s influence on his nephews doesn’t mean that he is favored by the king. “I would assess that Charles holds Bill Money and QCurl Sharif at equal depths of disdain,” Pynchon-Bottoms said. “Surely this has something to do with the fact that he has competed against them, with singular unsuccess, for the affections of his own mother and sons.
“Indeed, we are told that King Charles wanted to strip SirQ of his title and his lands until his Privy Council reminded him that SirQ is more popular in Britain than he is.”
Jagger, co-owner of Crossfire Hurricane and a classmate of Money’s at the London School of Economics, confirmed only that he and Prince Harry had “shared some smokes and snifters of brandy” at his nightclub. But the ageless frontman of the Rolling Stones marveled at Money’s fortunes in life.
“Fifty years ago, I knew that Bill would become a multimillionaire, even that he might one day run for high office in the United States,” Jagger said. “If anyone had told me he would be the uncle of the future King of England, I’d have told them to sod right off.”
