Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘forced to separate work’ for crucial reason, warns expert

Exclusive:

Many have wondered why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent public appearances have been separate and not together – and one brand expert believes there is a very strategic reason for this

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle look to be pursuing increasingly different careers with a separation of their work – and it’s set tongues wagging.

They have made a string of solo appearances apart from each other and just last month, Harry was away from Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for at least two weeks with public appearances in New York, London, as well as Southern Africa.

During his travels, Meghan was barely seen, however, she did attend a star-studded gala in aid of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, wearing an eye-popping red gown as she posed for photographers. It also emerged she made a solo visit to a girls’ leadership organisation to mark International Day of the Girl – minus her engagement ring.

And now even Harry and Meghan’s local newspaper, the Montecito Journal picked up on the gossip surrounding the couple about their “increasingly separate lives”. But according to PR expert Ed Coram James, the separate nature of their work may be a conscious decision – especially when it comes to salvaging their joint brand.

He explained to the Mirror : “Since their marriage, Harry and Meghan have had a distinct brand. That brand is based on a duo. Call it ‘Harry and Meghan’, call it ‘the Sussexes’, call it whatever you like. The fact is that for years they have become synonymous with one another.

” And, since the famous Oprah interview, in which they took a simmering disagreement between themselves and the rest of the Royal Family and essentially declared all-out-war, that brand has been steadily becoming more toxic and thus commercially untenable. To the point where not that many major brands are going to be rushing to write them a large cheque based on their brand value.

“This is because the ongoing confrontation with the rest of the Royal Family, as well as much of Meghan’s family, have made them appear confrontational and combative, their string of commercial projects that haven’t worked out and have led to a sense that they aren’t the best producers. And their worldwide publicity tour made them look whiney, ungrateful and unconscious to the enormous privilege that they have enjoyed.”

And Ed, the CEO of PR firm Go Up believes, in this case, pursuing separate projects is the right strategy for now, especially if they want to one day revive the Sussex brand. He added: “To overcome the obstacles of appearing spoiled, arrogant, immature, attention-seeking, aggressive, fight-picking, hypocritical and incompetent is very tricky.

“But, it is achievable. To do it, they need to lean into the exact opposites of these labels. The first step in this always had to be to dissociate themselves from the brand that had achieved such labels in the first place.

“When combined, the Sussexes brand is, from a PR perspective, toxic. But, when separate, they have a genuine chance of creating an entirely separate brand, with completely different labels. If they manage to achieve this, then one day they could again reunite brands, and create a new combined brand that works.”