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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the royal family back in 2020. Since then, the two have been living a more private life in California, though they have remained in the spotlight – and their popularity has seemingly suffered ever since they announced their royal departure.

For years, Harry and Meghan have been working hard to rebuild their reputations in the eyes of the public. But one PR expert finally reveals why Harry and Meghan are so unapproachable; surprisingly, it might not have anything to do with their personalities.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their son, Prince Archie
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their son, Prince Archie | Toby Melville/Pool/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ‘bad PR plan’ might have ruined them

From the start, it was so important that Harry and Meghan maintained a certain image in the press. The two were the new “it” couple of the royal family back in 2017, but when they didn’t enjoy their time in the family, they made the decision that was best for them: Step back and build a new life elsewhere.

But Harry and Meghan’s decision wasn’t necessarily what ruined them. It was what followed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were, evidently, allowed to do a slew of interviews and tell-alls, which perhaps their PR team should have squashed from the start.

“To be fair to the Sussexes, they seem to have learned the lessons from bad PR, and appear to have turned the page,” PR expert Edward Coram-James told Express. “I attribute much of their fall-from-public-favor purely as a reflection of what can happen with bad PR.”

Coram-James continued, “It does not mean that they’re bad people. For all we know, the Sussexes could be kind, caring and incredible people … It’s just that they had a bad PR plan.”

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been quiet lately

When Harry and Meghan left the royal family, they spent about a year laying low. They lived in Canada, then relocated to the United States and eventually settled down in Montecito, California. But in 2021, the two did a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, and it might have hurt more than it helped.

For the next few years after that, Harry and Meghan were frequently speaking badly of the royal family, which did not help their reputation. However, the two have slowed down on discussing the royal family and have instead started to focus putting their philanthropic work in the spotlight; Harry accepted the Pat Tillman Award at this year’s ESPYs for his work on the Invictus Games, and Meghan and Harry both sat down for an interview with CBS over the summer to discuss bullying among the youth. It seems these PR moves are shedding them in a more positive light.