Would you believe that “royal commentators” are STILL complaining about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s so-called “quasi-royal” tours? A month ago, Prince Harry and Meghan wrapped up a successful four-day visit to Australia, where they traveled on their own dime, made some commercial and charitable appearances and generated a lot of goodwill and positivity. Harry followed that up by spending a few days in Ukraine, and Meghan just went solo to Geneva to inaugurate the Lost Screen Memorial. Before all of that, Harry and Meghan were in Jordan for a multi-day visit attached to WHO. This is simply what they’ve done this year – in recent years, Harry has taken two other trips to Ukraine, and the Sussexes have visited Nigeria, Jamaica, Colombia, Canada and all of the countries hosting the Invictus Games. According to royal commentators, all of this needs to stop!
Eight years after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot in a fairy-tale Windsor wedding, they are still doing things their way. Since their bombshell royal exit in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have rewritten the rulebook with Hollywood deals, tell-all interviews and headline-grabbing moves, reportedly drawing growing concern from palace aides and senior royals.
“There is a huge difference between what the monarchy has to offer and what Harry and Meghan are currently doing,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital. “This was underlined by King Charles’ highly successful state visit to the United States and Princess Catherine’s two-day visit to Italy, her first official trip in over three years. However, in attempting to have something similar to the ‘half-in, half-out’ position within the royal family, which Queen Elizabeth rejected, the Sussexes have shown that their brand still gets huge amounts of publicity.”
“What Queen Elizabeth II viewed as totally and utterly unacceptable has been adopted by the Sussexes as their modus operandi, blurring the line between being private citizens and wannabe celebrities while leveraging their royal connections,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich claimed to Fox News Digital. “Each trip they make is styled to be rather like a faux royal tour as they seem to monetize almost every moment.”
“It was nonetheless impertinent of them to go on a visit to Australia in April, which was, in all but name, a royal tour as it is one of the king’s realms,” Fitzwilliams said. “Their mix of charitable events, including military-related appearances, also included commercial ventures, from Meghan’s wellness weekend to Harry’s speech on mental health.”
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital she believes the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are “absolutely blurring the lines between private business and monarchy business.”
“Successful working members of the royal family work as a team, supporting the king in his many state and national duties,” she explained. “They do not compete. Both Harry and Meghan realize that, despite leaving royal life years ago, their global relevance is determined by their royal status. They have appeared internationally in what many claim to be self-serving lookalike royal tours involving charity work in a bid to monetize their royal status. However, they are no longer working royals…. The optics no doubt confuse people, blurring the distinction between the Sussexes and the official monarchy, especially as Harry considers himself a working royal.”
When they accidentally admit what’s really bugging them, that’s what gives me the dopamine hit: “the Sussexes have shown that their brand still gets huge amounts of publicity…” There it is. That’s why the royalists are screaming, crying and throwing up about the Sussexes’ tours. These people want to argue that it’s “unfair” for Harry and Meghan to get “huge amounts of publicity” because the Sussexes no longer work for the Firm. They want to say that publicity is OWED to the left-behinds alone because of their working-royal status, and the Sussexes have “stolen” the publicity meant for the Windsors. Because that’s how they ALL think – that this is zero-sum, that there’s only one “pie” and the dull left-behinds are fighting for a slice of attention while Harry & Meghan “take” the biggest slice.
Thank you!
Look for our email in your mailbox! – Katie
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
