Meghan Markle & Harry’s ‘star power wasn’t as successful as they hoped’, says pro amid claims they lead separate lives
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry seem to be focusing on solo work projects and increasing living separate lives, according to royal experts.
A PR expert has claimed that the reason for the Sussexes focusing on individual projects is that their “star power wasn’t as successful as they hoped.”
PR guru Mark Borkowski told Best magazine: “There has been a separation [of their work] for a while.
“Harry is ‘going back to basics’ with a formula that worked well for him as a Royal Family member, but there’s also the realisation that the couple’s ‘star power’ wasn’t as successful as they hoped.
“They had to change the narrative.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior working royals in 2020 and after relocating to California initially undertook a number of joint projects, including their £82million Netflix deal and their Archewell foundation.
Sussex divide?
Speaking on our first ever Royal Exclusive Live show, legendary Sun photographer Arthur Edwards revealed how the pair are ‘doing things separately now’ after failing to be spotted together in weeks.
Meanwhile Jennie Bond, a royal correspondent for the last 35 years, also revealed: “Meghan is not popular. She doesn’t want to come back and they are going their own ways, to some extent”.
This comes after it was revealed Harry celebrated the night of his milestone 40th birthday without Meghan in September.
The duke went on a hiking trip with pals to celebrate his big day, leaving his wife and their kids at home.
Sources close to the couple insist it was Meghan who organised the lads’ trip.
Their separate plans, followed by Harry’s solo trips across the past few weeks, has sparked speculation surrounding their relationship.
However, a Sussex confidante addressed rumours, insisting: “It is normal for couples to not do everything together.”
Riding solo
Solo ventures the couple have recently done include Harry taking a trip to Lesotho in Africa in honour of his charity, Sentebale.
The Duchess of Sussex previously accompanied him to the continent, including in May this year.
Harry also attended a string of events in New York unaccompanied by his wife, and also did a surprise TV stint and tour of a haunted maze on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
He also jetted to the UK capital at the end of September and did not see his father the King, or have any contact with his brother, Prince William.
Instead his time was taken up by honouring seriously ill youngsters at the WellChild Awards in London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel.
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex stunned at the LA Children’s Hospital gala in early October, sporting a red gown she had upcycled from a previous event.
Meghan’s personal projects
Meghan’s upcoming solo ventures include a Netflix cooking show about friendship and her lifestyle brand American Orchard Riviera.
The mum-of-two’s lifestyle company recently suffered fresh blows as it was revealed she is ‘struggling’ to secure a CEO, and her team filled in official forms incorrectly, and failed to send enough cash.
Since announcing the project, the former Suits actress is yet to roll out anything other than jams and dog biscuits – products that have only been gifted to her A-lister pals so far.
These issues came in addition to a bitter dispute over exclusive rights to the name American Riviera Orchard.
A timeline of Prince Harry's family feud
The first hints of friction reportedly came after William was introduced to Meghan when she was staying at Kensington Palace.
Once she’d returned home to Canada, William and Harry sat down for a brother-to-brother chat.
He knew Harry was already head-over-heels for her but it has been claimed he advised him to take it slowly.
The younger prince reportedly didn’t take too kindly to the advice, with one royal source saying he “went mental”.
Then in June 2019 Harry and Meghan officially split off from the charity they shared with William and Kate.
The Royal Foundation will be divided between the Sussexes and Cambridges as the couples focus on their own separate charitable endeavours.
Prince William and Prince Harry first established the Royal Foundation in 2009 before Kate joined two years later shortly after their engagement was announced.
The trio would often appear together at events and the Foundation had huge successes with projects like the Invictus Games for injured veterans and the mental health Heads Together campaign.
The Royal Foundation said the decision was made following the conclusion of a review into its structure – but added both couples will continue to work together in the future.
Harry and Meg were living in close proximity to Kate and Wills within the Kensington Palace estate, but they switched to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor before baby Archie was born.
The move further increased rumours of a fallout.
Harry also hinted in his ITV documentary “Harry and Meghan, An African Journey” that he and his brother had grown apart.
In 2021, Harry and Meghan give their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey where Harry accused his dad of cutting him off financially.
Harry then jetted back to UK to join William in unveiling a statue to their mother Princess Diana in the grounds of Kensington Palace. But sources claimed William didn’t want to attend the memorial amid their ongoing rift.
In 2022, just before their grandmother the Queen died, sources claimed Kate acts as a “peacemaker” between the brothers.
Harry claimed his brother “knocked him to the floor” during an argument about Meghan, in his memoir.
In Spare, Harry said William branded Meghan “rude” and “difficult” during a row.
Harry alleged William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor”.
He said he was left with a visible injury to his back following the argument in 2019 at Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, where he was living at the time.
In January this year, Harry flew in to be with Charles after the monarch’s shock cancer diagnosis.
Harry flew back to the US the following day – without seeing Wills.
In May he visited the UK for a three-day visit without seeing King Charles or Prince William.