2023 has been quite a year for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and not a very good one with the couple receiving a lot of criticism. They’ve now found themselves in a precarious position and its up to them as to whether they can turn things around, says royal insiders.
This week’s episode of Palace Confidential, hosted by Jo Elvin, discusses just that, what the Sussexes are going to do to get back to a good place.
Elvin reads from a recent review, saying, “There’s this quote from Forbes, the business magazine, that I thought was super harsh, where they say the Sussexes are ‘a compelling case study for Harvard Business School on the ultimate in brand buzz failure,’ I mean, burn!”
Journalist Victoria Murphy, who writes for Town and Country, among other outlets, agrees that the commentary is harsh, and suggests the Sussexes need to do things differently “if they want the conversation to shift.”
The Sussexes have lost the support of the publications who were once cheering for them, at the least, not saying anything about them, and “they start 2024 trying to claw that back,” says Murphy.
READ MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan’s plans for UK return branded ‘ridiculous’ as rift ‘too deep’
Murphy touches upon the Forbes article, saying, “It compared them unfavorably to the Kardashians, saying the Kardashians had forged a very strong brand through authenticity.”
She goes over her takeaway, saying, “I think what it feels like, it points to is what we’ve seen happen over the past twelve months or so, is that the narrative around Harry and Meghan, and the criticism of them, there’s been a much more globally skeptical attitude, critical attitude, toward them in the past twelve months.”
She provides an example of what she means by that: “I think people in publications who weren’t criticizing them before, have done so in the past twelve months or so, and, so, they start 2024 trying to claw that back, really, and the question is, can they?”
While things are problematic for the Sussexes, Murphy hasn’t given up on them, suggesting, “They need to do something differently than what they’ve been doing in the past twelve months if they want that discussion to shift.”
Even if they are to have a success, like the Invictus Games, it’s then canceled out with what they do next, like taking a private jet to the Caribbean right after the work trip, which was followed by scrutiny.
It seems like it’s always two steps forward one step back. Possibly, for 2024, one step at a time may work better.
