Last week, we reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle repaid the $3.2 million in British taxpayer dollars that they had spent on renovating Frogmore Cottage. They did this after signing a deal with Netflix that could be worth up to $150 million.

Now, royal experts Chris Ship and Lizzie Robinson are speaking out to talk about the strong message that Harry and Meghan’s newfound financial independence sends to the royal family.

“I suppose what they’re kind of trying to do is deny any justification for any media intrusion,” Ship said, according to The Express. “They’re not taking taxpayers’ money, they’re not working members of the Royal Family, they’ve set up their own business, they are working with Netflix and taking money from them.”

“There is no justification to hover cameras over their house and try and take pictures of Archie, not that there ever was to be fair,” he added. “A lot of the commentary around this was that this couldn’t be a clearer sign that they are done, cut ties with their lives as working members of the Royal Family.”

Robinson agreed with him.

“Lots of people are saying this is significant because there are no ties anymore, they’re not coming back,” she said. “Yes, the ties have been well and truly severed. So Harry and Meghan are now setting out as former royals with a very lucrative deal with a private media company, Netflix. They’re living in a mansion which they are funding themselves in Los Angeles, technically Montecito.”

“Basically the message to not just the UK press, but the international press and the American paparazzi to get out of here, stop taking pictures, stop prying into our private lives,” Robinson added. “Unless of course they want to publicize it in a very controlled way. Like the Netflix story last week which we think was given by their PR outfit straight to the New York Times.”

This comes one week after Harry and Meghan announced their Netflix deal.

“Our lives, both independent of each other, and as a couple have allowed us to understand the power of the human spirit: of courage, resilience, and the need for connection,” they said in a statement. “Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope.”

“As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us, as is powerful storytelling through a truthful and relatable lens,” Harry and Meghan added.