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(NewsNation) — There’s a sigh of relief in Montecito.

Word that Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) settled at the last minute with Prince Harry rocked the media world this week when Harry scored a major victory as the Sun newspaper not only admitted to hacking the Prince but apologized to him for his “torments”… and gave him, what I hear, was a whopping $12.3 million for his troubles.

After the case was settled on Wednesday, News Group Newspapers agreed to pay “substantial damages” for what it described as “the serious intrusion” by two of its flagship titles, the Sun and the News of the World.

His lawyer, David Sherbrooke said: “In a monumental victory today, News UK admitted that the Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices.” 

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle ‘needed the money’ from settlement: Insider

But there’s more to the settlement than meets the eye.

”They needed the money,” my insider said. “The way (Harry and Meghan) live, and the rate they spend, they would run out of cash sooner rather than later — and it’s not like anyone is running to hire them or give them more contracts. As they’ve proven time and time again, the only time they make money for people is when they’ve sold out his family and that cow has been milked.”

And I’m hearing it’s an insane amount of money — $12.3 million dollars (10 million GBP), which not only covers Harry’s legal fees, it also puts a chunk of change in his personal bank account.

An insider added: “If he had been able to file in the United States the damages would have been a lot more, but since the crimes happened in the UK he couldn’t file here — and the UK rarely gives out massive amounts of money for damages.” 

(A rep for NGN declined to comment on the settlement amount). 

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Montecito home

The cash is important as Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, live an expensive life. Their Montecito house was bought for $14.65 million and costs at least $500,000 to maintain a year (insurance, maintenance, taxes, etc). They also have a nearly $1 million annual security bill and both like expensive things like polo horses and private jets.

While they were rumored to have scored a $100 million deal from Netflix, only their docuseries “Harry & Meghan” scored any eyeballs. The other shows they created — “Heart of Invictus,” “Live to Lead” and Harry’s “Polo” — bombed… and there’s little hope that Meghan’s cookery show “With Love, Meghan” will do well.

Meghan Markle cooking on Netflix is ‘insane’: Insider

”It’s completely contrived and so very 2004,” an insider said about Meghan’s upcoming show that was set to debut mid-January but was pushed back until March due to the LA wildfires. 

“She wants people to have a look inside her life but she didn’t even film inside her own home. And no one knows who these pretty people are she’s cooking for. It’s insane. The price of eggs is skyrocketing and she’s showing us how to put edible flowers in ice cubes — like that hasn’t been done before.”

Meanwhile, there are no more book offers (unless Harry does a sequel to his runaway hit “Spare” which, again, sold out his family), and while the numbers quoted about the Sussex’s projects were huge ($100 million for Netflix, $40 million for a series of books, $20 million for a Spotify deal) — those numbers are the CAP own what they would have made had all their projects been successful. Likely, the pair were given production support and marketing but would have only garnered big bucks if they’d met sales targets. Which they did not.

The couple’s publishing deal has gone by the wayside and the Spotify deal was canceled after just one year, with Spotify exec Bill Simmons calling the pair “grifters”.

While Harry was worth an estimated $25 million when he married Meghan (who was worth $4 million at the time), the lifestyle they lead needs a constant cash infusion.

So it was good timing this week when he settled with NGN.

Tabloid apology to Prince Harry includes Princess Diana

A spokesperson for NGN said unlawful activities were carried out by private investigators working for the Sun but denied any wrongdoing by its journalists and said phone hacking had not taken place at the title. The company also apologized for phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists at the News of the World.

“There are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now,” the spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal (also owned by Murdoch).

The company also apologized for making intrusions into his life and that of his mother, the late Princess Diana, who died when he was 12 years old.

“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” the company said in the apology read out in the court.

A representative for Harry and Meghan declined to comment on the settlement.