Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s popularity has faced challenges following their many candid media appearances discussing life within the Royal Family after quitting their roles as senior working royals in 2020.
A director of a Conservative think tank has explained his reasoning as to why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have “alienated most Americans” in recent years.
Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation who challenged the validity of Harry’s US visa, told GB News: “Harry and Meghan are viewed as just massive narcissists who spend all the time trashing the Royal Family.
He added: “Most Americans really admire the Royal Family. The Queen [Queen Elizabeth II] was hugely popular with Americans, and they don’t take kindly to attacks on the Royal Family.”
The Heritage Foundation sought to compel the US Government to release Harry’s US visa application to see if the prince disclosed his drug usage on the form but a judge recently ruled that the document should remain private.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had a grand wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018, stepped back from their roles as senior royals in January 2020 to become “financially independent” and they eventually relocated to Montecito, California where they now live with their two children.
The business expert continued: “The Royal Family is very much loved in America. All these attacks from Harry and Meghan, they’ve gone down very badly in the United States.”
He added the royal couple’s behaviour had “alienated most Americans”.
Meghan faced backlash after the much anticipated Netflix docu-series, ‘Harry & Meghan’, detailed the couple’s life within the Firm and unveiled her “mocking” impression of a historical royal tradition.
In the second episode, the Duchess of Sussex recreated the extravagant curtsy she performed in front of Queen Elizabeth II during her first meeting with the late monarch.
Body language expert, Jesús Enrique Rosas, shared his assessment of the Prince’s reaction, which was also negative. Commenting on a clip of Meghan’s curtsey impression on Twitter, Jesús Enrique Rosas wrote: “Whoa. Harry really didn’t like the curtsy mocking.”
Meghan described the moment she met the late Queen. She said: “We were in the car, driving and he’s like, ‘You know how to curtsy, right?’ – and I just thought it was a joke.”
Commenting on the formality people need to abide by when meeting members of the Firm, the Duke defended his wife and said: “How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you would need to curtsy, especially to an American. That’s weird.”
In the hope of rebuilding connections in Hollywood, an insider has revealed Meghan is set to launch a major charm offensive in the hope of making friends, and rebuilding her new brand, which fans are keen to see launch officially.
An insider told Closer Magazine a “lonely” Duchess of Sussex will plan to strengthen her friendships this festive season. They said: “Meghan has been meticulously curating gift packages filled with a selection of all her favourite things – and of course, plenty of her jam – to send to the who’s who of Hollywood.
“While there is no doubt it’s about promoting her American Riviera Orchard brand, it’s also about spreading goodwill and trying to remind people of her softer side. With Christmas around the corner, Meghan sees it as the perfect time to try to rebuild connections and is determined not to start 2025 surrounded by negativity.”
They added Meghan has recently been feeling “increasingly lonely” and wants to concentrate on “strengthening friendships”.
Following the publication of Harry’s memoir, polling revealed that his popularity plummeted in the US. A Newsweek poll conducted on January 16 – days after his book was released – found the Duke had a net approval of -7, with 31 percent of participants saying they liked Harry while 38 percent said they disliked him.
When Newsweek previously conducted the survey on December 5 2022, he had a net approval of +38.
But the situation appears to have improved, as a recent YouGov poll commissioned by the Times revealed 49 percent of Americans held a positive view of Harry, compared to 24 percent who had a negative view. This made him more popular than King Charles, who had a 38 percent positive rating and even the Princess of Wales, who held a 43 percent positive rating.
The poll also found 35 percent of US adults believe the Royal Family should apologise to the Duke and Duchess.
