Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Haven’t Answered 1 ‘Big Question’ About Their ‘New Life’ — Expert
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have addressed all sorts of questions since stepping back as working royals in 2020. How did it happen? Are they on speaking terms with Prince William, King Charles III, or other British royals? What really transpired with those flower girl dresses? However, an expert says there’s one question about their life in California that remains unanswered.
‘What everyone’s wondering is where the philanthropy is’ for Harry and Meghan’
According to royal expert Katie Nicholl, the lingering question about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex pertains to philanthropy.
“They said they were leaving to start a new life to essentially start a philanthropic lifestyle, to build this philanthropic empire,” the royal correspondent told ET. “And it was all based around Archwell, and I think what everyone’s wondering is where the philanthropy is.”
Harry and Meghan started the Archewell Foundation, under the Archewell umbrella, including Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio, in 2020. A 2023 report recapped the foundation’s work since its founding as well as hinted at future projects for Harry and Meghan.
Expert says ‘the big question’ is ‘what’s next?’ for Harry and Meghan as ‘global philanthropists’
Nicholl continued, saying Harry and Meghan’s recent ventures, such as their December 2022 Netflix docuseries, Spare, and dissolved Spotify partnership, aren’t necessarily in line with what they said they were going to do.
“The deals have been big-dollar deals, very financially driven,” Nicholl, the author of The New Royals, said. Harry and Meghan have an estimated net worth of $60 million.
“But these [deals] have sort of run their course,” she continued. “And there is the sense that they have exhausted their narrative, which is essentially attacking the royal family and explaining why they left.”
“The big question,” Nicholl added, “is what’s next? You said you wanted to become global philanthropists, to be co-humanitarians. When are we gonna see the evidence of this?”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘connected’ over philanthropy on their first date
Long before relocating to California, Spare, their Netflix docuseries, or Archewell’s founding, Meghan revealed philanthropy had been of the “first things” she and Harry Harry bonded over when they met in July 2016.
“It was really one of the first things we connected on,” the now-41-year-old told the BBC in her and Harry’s 2017 engagement interview. “It was one of the first things we started talking about when we met was just the different things that we wanted to do in the world and how passionate we were about seeing change.”
Meghan added their shared passion was probably “what got date two in the books.” Also in their first TV sit-down as a couple, Harry named philanthropy as what they wanted to focus on as senior working royals.
“Both of us have passions for wanting to make change, change for good. […] that’s where we’ll spend most of our time, hopefully,” he said.
While the question remains, will Harry and Meghan return to philanthropy? there’s reportedly an Africa documentary on the way, as well as a scripted drama and, of course, Harry’s Invictus Games docuseries slated for a summer 2023 release.
