Was it all just one long 'Yah boo sucks' to the actual working royals? Or was it to show them that, actually, despite being denied the option of being 'half in, half out' at the Sandringham Summit six years ago in January 2020, Meghan and Harry have got exactly what they wanted?
For their ‘royal tour’ to Australia two weeks ago looked, well… extremely royal. And while they have denied that the trip was to seek publicity, they certainly found it.
They were feted at a children’s hospital in Melbourne, Meghan served lunch at a women’s refuge, Harry talked about fatherhood and mental health at an Australian rules football club, they sailed round iconic Sydney Harbour and Harry donned his medals for a sombre Last Post ceremony and wreath-laying at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
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It was a veritable royal-tour bingo full house. Except there was also money to be made.
Ahead of the tour, much was made of their paid-for speaking engagements - Harry at a mental-health summit (although aides later insisted he didn’t receive a fee) and Meghan at a women’s retreat, earning her an estimated £130,000.
But, as became clear, this was the tip of the iceberg for Meghan’s money-making plan - perhaps explaining why she changed clothes so many times, had so many photo opportunities and was even a guest judge on MasterChef Australia.
Hours after she was meeting cancer sufferers and serving food to homeless women, it was revealed that Meghan was ‘merching’ the very clothes off her back via a new AI celebrity fashion portal that she is now investing in. Not just her £660 Karen Gee dress (an Australian designer, of course), but her £575 Real Fine Studio earrings and even her Christian Dior shoes.
Every time someone buys an item, the site gets a 10-25% cut - with Meghan receiving half. I’m not sure ‘tacky’ even begins to cover it. And it certainly explains why this initially ‘private’ and ‘low-key’ visit turned into a media circus. Meghan had to be seen to be believed - and sell her clothes!
Her page on the OneOff platform, where she is billed as 'Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’, features dozens of pictures of her in recent months, many pointedly showing her hand-in-hand with the late Queen’s grandson (still fifth in line to the throne), and all with links to buy her outfits.
Lest we forget (and, of course, recollections do vary), the late Queen said the Sussexes could not be ‘half in, half out’ royals because working royals cannot earn their own money (or merch their status), in order to preserve the clear blue water between public service and personal gain.
Despite the couple’s denial that the trip was for publicity, at Buckingham Palace there were eye-rolls and heavy sighs about the predictability of it all.
'Is it time they were stripped of their royal titles?'
One Palace source said, "It’s pretty outrageous behaviour, particularly in a realm where the King is Head of State, to drum up all this publicity for their commercial endeavours with royal-tour choreography.
"The whole point about being a working royal is that they do it for others and for public service, not their bank balance."
So is it time they were stripped of their royal titles?
After all, in the giddy MasterChef Australia introduction, Meghan can be seen beaming from ear to ear after being introduced as ‘royalty’ and ‘the Duchess of Sussex’.
Slammed as 'grifters' and 'preachy'
The only reason the Sussexes are famous is their relationship with the Royal Family - a relationship they have continued to monetise and, in my opinion, trash for five years, ever since they hung out their dirty laundry for Oprah Winfrey in 2021. No wonder the real royals are wary of seeing them.
Their former biggest paymasters - Netflix and Spotify - seem to have tired of them. So now, they are reduced to hawking their titles to anyone who will pay - rehashing the sob stories of ‘I was the most trolled person in the entire world’ (Meghan) and ‘I didn’t want this job, it killed my mum’ (Harry).
Which begs the question: Harry, what are you doing? The titles you insist broke you, the titles you refuse to relinquish and demand for your kids, are the titles that booked you those lucrative conference spots!
Certainly, the Aussie media were pretty hostile. One Melbourne newspaper ran a headline that read, ‘No One Cares About Sussexes’ “Faux” Tour’, while The Sydney Morning Herald put it more bluntly: ‘Australia was good to Harry and Meghan. Now they want to use us as an ATM. Does anyone seriously believe they are coming to our shores for reasons other than financial and reputational?’
And a comment piece in Melbourne’s Herald Sun described the couple as ‘grifters’ and criticised their ‘preachy brand of empowerment’.
One furious Australian told Woman, "They have no shame. They’re definitely not getting the same kind of welcome as last time. She went on MasterChef… they must be desperate. No half in, half out. He behaves as if he’s a working royal and he wants what Granny said wasn’t allowed.”
An online petition calling for no official support or taxpayer funding for the couple’s visit attracted over 45,000 signatures. The trip was privately funded, but police in Victoria and New South Wales confirmed they provided security as part of their “core policing business” and to ensure public safety.
It all looked very ‘half in, half out’ by stealth. Whether Harry and Meghan have the last laugh, with it providing wealth, remains to be seen.
This feature first appeared in Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.