Maybe there will be more to come in the next few days, but it feels like the British media has been subdued about the Sussexes at the end of 2024. They’ve tried to fabricate some negativity which was barely amplified, and they’ve been dropping Prince Harry and Meghan’s names constantly, in almost positive ways. It feels like the British media is sad that they don’t have more to talk about, but let me put something out there – I’m guessing that they’re saving the “state of the Sussexes” thinkpieces for the five-year anniversary of the Sussexit in early January. Meanwhile, Richard Palmer wrote a review of the Sussexes’ year and he had absolutely no new information. Some highlights from his i News piece:
The Sussexes could have been reflecting on the Windsors over Christmas: The Sussexes could also be forgiven for wondering why they were not allowed to be half in and half out of the Firm, making their own money, while supporting the monarch as they wished. After all, Uncle Andrew was doing private commercial deals and making money on his international Dragon’s Den-style Pitch@Palace project, introducing entrepreneurs to investors while overseas on taxpayer-funded official royal duties, before he was forced to step down due to his friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. If he was doing that with the apparent support of British diplomats, why was it not possible for Harry and Meghan to mix commercial enterprises with their royal duties?
Calm Harry: What the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may see as a two-tier approach by the Royal Household still rankles, but after venting his spleen about his family in his memoir Spare and in a Netflix series, Harry seems calmer in public these days despite the rift with his father, stepmother, brother and sister-in-law that shows no sign of healing. Settled in the couple’s £11m home in Montecito, California, the fifth in line to the throne now lists himself as a US resident officially and has thought about applying for US citizenship.
Their 2025 plans: Almost five years after their dramatic decision to quit their official lives, the couple are now working more independently from each other, ostensibly in an effort to maximise their earnings and promote their own causes. But their separate professional paths do not herald a split in their marriage, according to friends who describe reports hinting at divorce as “nonsense”. Harry and Meghan, they insist, will still do joint public appearances in future and are planning further overseas trips similar to the quasi-royal or “royal lite” visits to Nigeria and Colombia this year. They are expected to be in Vancouver and Whistler on the west coast of Canada in early February – for the latest version of Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded military personnel – as well as further visits to Africa, where their personal stock is high, are likely.
Their Netflix deal: The couple’s luxurious lifestyle has been partly funded by a multi-year deal, said to be worth $100m, to produce content for Netflix. A cookery and gardening show featuring Meghan is understood to be in the works and further projects through their company Archewell Productions are in the pipeline, even though their current Netflix series, Polo, a behind-the-scenes look at the rich people’s sport, has been panned by critics and, perhaps unsurprisingly, failed to make the streaming service’s top 10 viewed shows after its release.
A grand plan? Mark Borkowski, the PR agent, has some sympathy for the couple and the negativity they have experienced. But he believes they are in danger of exhausting the good will shown to them by their US business partners after failing to secure commercial successes to match Spare and their initial Netflix series about their own lives. “I think they need a Hail Mary. They need to do something,” he said. “They do need a grand plan for 2025.”
Harry’s lawsuit against News Group Newspapers: Harry, who is expected to give evidence in the witness box over four days, will likely have to pay both sides’ legal fees, estimated to be between £10m and £15m, after he and the former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson became the last two people among 1,300 original claimants to reject an out-of-court settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s company. Any damages he wins, even if he is successful, will be dwarfed by the legal bill. “100 times over even if or when we win,” he told the DealBook summit. “I’m still liable for the legal costs of both sides.”
Is Harry getting financial backing? After his newspaper and police protection battles, Harry has suggested the big tech companies will be next in his sights, as he pushes for regulation of social media to counter misinformation. Some royal insiders wonder if he is getting financial backing from some of the wealthier claimants who settled their disputes with newspapers. But the royal biographer Ingrid Seward suggested that the costs will not trouble him. “Harry is a very rich and privileged young man but he still hasn’t really achieved everything he wanted to do,” she said.
Some smaller pieces of information which we still don’t know: what settlement offers has NGN made to Harry, and did any of the offers reach eight figures? When will Meghan’s cooking show drop and WTF is going on with American Riviera Orchard? Will the Heritage Foundation continue their bonkers harassment campaign against Harry when Trump is in office? Will Meghan travel with Harry if he makes another visit to Lesotho or South Africa? Oh and did they really buy a place in Portugal?
Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images, Backgrid.
