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Prince Harry has been in New York where he has made a string of solo appearances without wife Meghan Markle – and one expert says it seems to have had implications for the Duke of Sussexes’ own personal brand
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Prince Harry says ‘young people must be listened to’ at Princess Diana event
Prince Harry’s whirlwind solo trip to New York has shown how his own personal brand is a “little thin”, according to an expert.
The Duke of Sussex has been in the Big Apple this week without wife Meghan Markle, carrying out a string of appearances at events connected with UN General Assembly High-Level Week. He was a star guest at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Tuesday, where he delivered a passionate about the online world and spoke movingly about his mother Princess Diana during a panel chat about the Diana Award.
He rounded off his trip with an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon where he was filmed screaming and turning the air blue as he ventured through a haunted maze with the TV host.
According to royal historian and expert Dr Tessa Dunlop, much of the fallout of Harry’s trip has focused on Meghan’s absence – and she believes this is very much down to some of the couple’s previous moves.
She told the Mirror: “It has been a whirlwind week for Prince Harry in New York, championing all the causes he cares about most: young people, Diana’s legacy, the climate and the corrosive effects of the social media. ‘We’ve split the atom. We’ve walked on the moon. We are more than equipped to tackle this’ intoned the Duke as he strode like a colossus across the stage at the Clinton Global Initiative.
“Statesman Harry was all sharp suits, polished performances, and packed halls until he hit Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show with expletives and manly joshing as the pair pranked their way around a Haunted Maze to kick-start America’s Halloween obsession. ‘Is that Michael Buble?’ quipped Harry of a itinerant ghost. Half kid, half adult, Harry appeared to have it all – charisma, wit, goofball charm and yet the star power the Duke of Sussex exuded in Colombia was missing. Meghan was nowhere to be seen.
“Compounding this solo optic was Meghan’s no-show at Kevin Costner’s ranch last weekend when Harry gave away a prize at a First Responders fundraiser. By all accounts, the Duchess was ill. As for New York, she was never on the billing; this was Harry championing his own pet projects and charities.
“Surely we are passed the era when a comely wife is handmaiden to her husband’s grandstanding? Apparently not when it comes to the Duke and Duchess.
“Part of the problem lies with their Sussex brand. It was very much together, under the gaze of the world’s media, that the couple walked away from the Royal Family. For better or for worse, Harry and Meghan became synonymous with rebellion, identity politics and woke culture. The Sussexes versus the Establishment was a global phenomenon.
“Alone Harry had been a second-rung royal or, in his words, the Spare. Meghan a bit-part Hollywood actress in a series called Suits. Together they were mega. Megabucks and mega stars. Nothing could stop them, not even a ‘manly pep talk’ from that other renegade, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But out on his own again, the Duke’s brand looks, well, a little thin, no matter how good Harry is at his American royal-adjacent role (very, as it turns out).”
Tessa does point out there have been joint appearances between the pair in the not-too-distant past, especially the Sussexes’ trip to Colombia, where they made a string of visits on what was dubbed a DIY royal tour.
But she added that there will be even more solo travel and appearances for Harry in the future. She explained: “While the Duchess has put in joint appearances with her Prince in Colombia, Nigeria and even New York (last October), in Britain, where Meghan felt bruised and they no longer receive state security, Harry’s solo show is set to continue.
“This weekend the Duke returns to the UK, where as Patron, he is hosting the Wellchild award ceremony. And yes, once again he is returning home alone. Perhaps Boris Johnson will step into the breech, with another ‘pep talk’.”