Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are going through a turbulent time. Harry’s trial against the newspapers in the UK continues, and the couple have been caught in the middle of the “racist royal” scandal, where author Omid Scobie was said to have named the royal who allegedly made comments about Archie’s skin color.
To put even more unsuccessful things to the podium for the Sussexes, they are losing out on plenty of money – and what will happen to their businesses or friendships in Hollywood remains uncertain.
In the midst of all this kerfuffle, another tough blow has now reached Prince Harry: it appears that no one wants his name.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s new life in the US has become more turbulent than expected. They lost their Spotify deal worth millions some months ago, and now, they will lose even more money within their Archewell Foundation.
As reported by several news outlets, the Sussexes saw the donations to the charitable organization decline by $11 million in 2022 compared to the prior year, which was disclosed in a tax filing on Tuesday. Moreover, the revenue ended at $673,000, compared to more than $9 million in 2021.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle founded the Archewell Foundation around two years ago. On its website, it states its purpose is to “uplift and unite communities, both local and global, online and offline.”
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle
While the donations have declined a lot, the foundation still has plenty of money. According to the tax filing, it still holds just over $8.3 million in assets and cash; in 2022, it donated around $1.2 million to several charities, including the mine-clearing Halo Trust, which once was supported by the late Princess Diana.
Moreover, as reported by the BBC, other projects that got funds from Archewell included $200,000 for a “gender justice” project in Washington, $125,000 for a civil-rights charity, and $100,000 for a project promoting responsible use of technology.
The tax return shows that Harry and Meghan are not drawing any income from Archewell. At the same time, it’s revealed that the foundation has an annual salary bill of around $640,000.
So why did Harry and Meghan lose so much in donations to their foundation? Well, US-based royal commentator Kinsey Schofield says the couple simply don’t work hard enough – and this is something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by those interested in donating.
“In these tax documents, we see that they work like one day a week for this charity. No wonder people are hesitating to donate to their charity when their executive directors seem to be not as committed as certainly the Prince and Princess of Wales are to their charity endeavours,” she told GB News.
She continued, “This is interesting to me because Harry and Meghan, they’ve had somebody talk to TMZ, which is a big celebrity news site here in the States, because they want to clear the air here. They think that this story is garbage. They say that they are not in the red because they’re not a corporation and this is just the UK media making a big deal out of nothing.”
“But interesting to me that a source close to Archewell can talk to TMZ about Archewell in the red…but no word on Endgame,” Schofield added.
‘Endgame’ book reveals “racist royals”
While the Archewell Foundation didn’t get as many donations last year as the year before that, there have been other, rather tumultuous things that have kept Harry and Meghan’s minds preoccupied in the past few months.
On November 28, royal author Omid Scobie released his latest book, Endgame. According to this publisher, the tell-all book explores a “monarchy in crisis,” by “exposing the infighting, family deterioration, and outdated practices threatening its very future,” according to the publisher.
Scobie is widely rumored to be friendly with Prince Harry and Meghan, and has also been referred to as their “mouthpiece.” Therefore, it was not a surprise that Endgame painted a picture of heroes and villains, with Harry and Meghan portrayed as the good guys, William as power-hungry, and Kate as lazy.
The weeks following its release haven’t been about what he actually wrote in the book. Instead, it was revealed by a royal journalist from the Netherlands that the Dutch translation included names of the “royal racists,” who were accused of talking about the skin color of Archie, Harry and Meghan’s first child.
During their Oprah interview in 2021, Meghan addressed the subject. However, regarding the Dutch translation of Endgame, author Omid Scobie didn’t take any responsibility, saying that it wasn’t to be included for legal reasons. Though, he has previously revealed that he knows the names of the so-called “royal racists.”
Not long after, he made a U-turn and admitted he named the alleged “royal racists” in an “early” version of his book. “Uncleared text” was provided to a Dutch publisher, and Scobie said that the plan was that a translation “would be updated to reflect the final version of the book.”
But, in a later interview with the BBC, Omid Scobie said, “The book I wrote, the book I edited, the book I signed off on, did not have names in it. The only publisher I worked directly with was the one covering the US and UK.”
Clearly, something isn’t quite adding up…
Harry & Meghan’s brand could be “finished” next year, expert says
The fact that the royals were named in the Dutch translation doesn’t necessarily affect Prince Harry and Meghan. But a crisis manager now explains that it could backfire for them heading into 2024.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, crisis manager Mark Borkowski says that Meghan’s relaunch in Hollywood isn’t working and that her talent management agency, WME, may consider dropping her after less than six months. According to the New York Post, WME is “horrified” about the “potential damage” that Endgame has caused.
“Something is beginning to unwind at the heart of Meghan and Harry. I think 2024 is going to be seismic, either because they’re going to do something to recover and find a new positive tactic, or it’s going to be the undoing of the brand. It can only go one or two ways. It can’t stay where it is at the moment. Because it’s clearly not working,” Borkowski said.
The crisis manager added that Harry and Meghan’s brand could be “finished” in 2024, as they are consistently portrayed in a negative light.
Meanwhile, brand and culture expert Nick Ede told the Daily Mail that Endgame itself could destroy Meghan’s career, just as Spare did to Harry’s.
“The issue for a huge Hollywood agent is that they will find it hard to navigate the career of Meghan, fearing that more will come out over time and that, with court cases looming from her sister and potentially her father, she has tarnished her reputation and could potentially damage the reputation of her agency,” Ede said.
“Meghan in the right hands is a superpower – the world’s most famous woman – and on paper she could make millions for herself and for whomever represents her,” she continued. “But she’s proving to be too hot to handle and, even though she hasn’t said anything about the book, she’s guilty by association, and this is damaging for her and others as she plots her next career move.”
Harry & Meghan baby name drops in UK popularity
While Prince Harry and Meghan’s popularity in the US has risen according to a new poll made by Newsweek, it appears that they aren’t quite as popular in the UK. At least not their names, shown in the latest list of baby names.
The parenting and pregnancy website Babycentre has just posted their latest list of top baby names in the UK, and ‘Harry’ and ‘Meghan’ are dropping further and further down the records.
‘Harry’ is down to spot No. 31, dropping 16 positions from the year before, while ‘Meghan’ dropped 116 spots and is down to No. 682.
While ‘Harry’ and ‘Meghan’ aren’t as popular as before, they can at least find some comfort in knowing that they aren’t alone in it, as both ‘Charles’ and ‘William’ also fell in popularity.
“No names did well out of the royal divide amid the revelations in Spare. ‘Harry’ plummeted down the top 100 to number 31, while ‘Meghan’ also dropped in registrations, and ‘Charles’ and ‘William’ fell. ‘Princess’ was a new entry into the top 100, but this could be a nickname registered for a baby before they’re born, rather than a royal influence,” Babycentre wrote on their website.
Meanwhile, ‘Archie’ ranks 17 among the most popular boys’ baby names, while ‘George takes’ 8th. Sadly, neither ‘Katherine’ nor ‘Kate’ made the top 100 list, and the same even goes for ‘Elizabeth’ was spared.
Aside from baby name drama, Christmas is also fast approaching, and everything points towards Harry and Meghan not celebrating the festive season with the royals for the fourth year in a row.
Harry & Meghan could spend Christmas in the UK – without royals
Royal expert Angela Levin even went so far as to argue that Harry and Meghan were afraid of the royal family’s reaction, so they chose not to travel back to the UK for Christmas.
“It’s been said that they’re not coming but it [is] also I think on what the documentary is like whether or not they would be invited at all,” Levin told The Sun at the time
“It’s up [to] the Sussexes on whether they want their children to know what their father’s family is like – but also it could be a case where the royals don’t want them there after the documentary,” she added.
But Christmas in the UK doesn’t have to result in seeing the royals. According to the Mirror, Prince Harry, Meghan, Prince Archie, and Princess Lilibet have gotten another invite to spend the festive season in the UK with the Duke’s friend, Charlie van Straubenzee.
“They have homes in London and Lincolnshire. Charlie is Harry’s best friend and also Archie’s godfather, and the pair have recently grown closer again following a distant few years when Harry first moved over to America,” an insider revealed.
“The Sussexes have recieved a number of invites from their friends in the US for the holidays. It’s not like they don’t have anywhere to go.”
The source added, “David Foster has invited them for his extended Christmas weekend, and there are also other options on the table, but there seems to be a stalemate over where they should go.”
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