The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, are set to be on opposite sides of the US this week as they continue to attend events separately, with their new approach noted by a local newspaper
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are keeping up appearances at separate engagements, fuelling speculation about their relationship despite assurances that all is well. Local columnists have picked up on the trend, with The Montecito Journal’s Richard Mineards – an ex-Fleet Street Royal correspondent – commenting on their individual itineraries.
Harry and Meghan, who settled in Montecito after stepping back from Royal duties in 2020, seem to be testing the waters with a new approach to their public image.
Mineards observed: “Prince Harry and actress wife Meghan Markle are set to attend events on opposite sides of the country this week as they continue to seemingly experiment with their new brand image strategy.”
He detailed Prince Harry’s attendance at The New York Times Dealbook Summit in Manhattan on December 5, where the 40-year-old prince humorously addressed persistent media rumours, saying he had heard he and Meghan had split “maybe 10, 12 times”. Meanwhile, Meghan, aged 43, was spotted at a Beverly Hills fundraising gala on the same night.
Interestingly, Mineards pointed out: “King Charles’s youngest son and the duchess were on the hosting committee; however Meghan will be the only one in attendance.”
Despite both being listed as joint chairs for the Paley Honors Gala, Harry was absent from the event, according to the Scottish Daily Express, leaving Meghan to grace the red carpet alone. She turned heads in a strapless black evening gown featuring a “daring split” and adorned with jewellery worth approximately £15,000.
The Daily Mail reports that other committee members present at the event included Ariel Emanuel, Jon Feltheimer, Whoopi Goldberg, Taraji P. Henson, Matt Johnson, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Gayle King, Debra L.
Lee, Mellody Hobson and George Lucas, Scott Mills, politicians Nicole Avant and Ted Sarandos, and Kerry Washington. This has sparked further speculation as to why Harry opted not to attend the Beverly Wilshire hotel, particularly given that the gala was in honour of Tyler Perry, the actor and director who is godfather to their daughter, Princess Lilibet.
The Journal adds: “Perry famously allowed the dynamic duo to stay at his $18million Beverly Hills estate when they first gave up being ‘working royals’ and moved to their $14m Riven Rock home in our rarefied enclave in 2020.”
The Paley Center for Media hailed Perry as “one of the most inspiring, versatile, prolific, and innovative creatives working in media today”, noting that “over the course of his storied career, he has produced over 2,000 episodes of television, and directed, written, and produced 28 feature films”.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Harry was busy quashing rumours about his relationship being on the rocks.
He told the audience at the event: “Apparently we’ve bought or moved house 10, 12 times. We’ve apparently divorced maybe 10, 12 times as well. So it’s just like, what?”
