Royal Family Should Consider Giving Harry and Meghan a ‘Limited International Role’: Expert
Former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief believes the Sussexes might be a new problem in the waiting for the royal family, but it can be avoided, too.
The royal family’s primary job these days seems to be disaster management. The monarchy is still dealing with the ever-present catastrophe of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s connection to convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein, and add to that the unclear whereabouts of Sarah Ferguson. But if Tina Brown, the former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, is to be believed, there might be another fire for the family to put out in the form of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
“The Sussexes’ revenue streams are starting to dry up,” she wrote in her recent Substack essay. The couple had officially stepped down from their roles in the monarchy in 2020 and had shifted to the US. Since then, they have given out a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, produced and starred in a Netflix docuseries about everything that led up to them leaving the monarchy, and Harry also published his bombshell memoir, Spare. All these ventures proved to be more than lucrative, with millions of views and the autobiographical book reportedly flying off the shelves.
But their other creative endeavours under their Archewell Production house, like Live to Lead, the docuseries Polo, or the podcasts, didn’t come close to matching that kind of success. With Netflix ending its partnership with Markle’s lifestyle brand As Ever, Brown believes that the couple “will soon be heading for that hinterland of freebie hell that draws them further and further into cheesy commercial gigs, or worse, toward dubious, transactional acquaintances willing to underwrite their faux-royal lifestyle and their astronomical security costs.”
According to Brown, amendments can still be made if King Charles and Prince William accept the half-in, half-out proposal that Harry had reportedly suggested when things had started going south within the family. “Before the Sussexes crash and burn, the House of Windsor needs to put aside schadenfreude and grip the problem. Give Harry and Meghan a limited international role,” Brown wrote.
However, Harry and Markle seem to have stood strong on their own so far and have at least one creative project in the pipeline. The couple will be producing a scripted drama based on the sport of polo that will be released on Netflix. It will reportedly be about “two rival teams and the families who lead them”. Polo and family feuds - a realm Harry would probably be rather familiar with.
Markle, on her part, has been true to growing her brand independently post the fallout with Netflix. Only a few days later, after the deal with the streaming giant came to an end, As Ever immediately launched a new hamper in a collaboration with floral luxury brand, High Camp Gardenias. The specially curated box included peppermint tea and sage honey from As Ever and white peonies, mint, and jasmine from High Camp Gardenias.
