Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Hollywood plans have been “shattered” because they have failed to understand what makes the Royal Family endure, a commentator has claimed. Esther Krakue said the Sussexes’ star quality has waned as they failed to follow the Windsor rule to “never explain, never complain”.
Her claims come after The Hollywood Reporter named Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, two of the “biggest losers” in Tinseltown for 2023. The couple’s Archewell Foundation racked up losses of almost £9million in donations, the organisation’s records show.
Ms Krakue told Sky News Australia: “For them to be classed as the biggest losers means that actually a lot of the people that you would think would hover around them and steal a bit of the limelight that the Sussexes should naturally have, given their proximity [to] the Royal Family,… they’re just not seeing any value there.”
She added: “This is a couple that went from having deals with Netflix and Spotify – these multimillion pound deals. They were having interviews with Oprah. You couldn’t run away from them in the headlines. They were literally everywhere. Everyone was thinking, ‘What are they going to do next. Are they going to bring down the Royal Family…
“That’s really all just shattered under their own feet because they really just didn’t understand a lot of the fundamental, key characteristics that’s made the Royal Family effectively last this long.”
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The commentator went on to cite the “never explain, never complain” rule the Windsors are said to apply in a bid to maintain their dignified public image. It is a strategy which the royals are believed to follow, but is believed to have originated with the 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who was a favourite of Queen Victoria.
Ms Krakue said royal watchers “never really saw” the Sussexes follow the Windsors’ commitment to service and duty, adding: “It really just made their star wane. And for that reason many in Hollywood don’t really see the point in attaching themselves to the Sussexes.”
Spotify dropped Meghan’s £16million podcast deal in June while the Duchess and her husband were tipped earlier this year not to continue with interviews or content about the Royal Family.
Despite claims the couple’s ventures have suffered failures and setbacks, Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir has amassed millions of pounds, topping Amazon’s bestseller list, while the royal’s 2023 Invictus Games was hailed by many as a success.
Archewell has said it is not unusual for high-profile foundations to receive a significant influx of funding in their first year to be used over several years as part of a financial plan to build its philanthropic work.
It said: “It is most fiscally responsible not to continue to raise large sums of money with millions still in reserve. In 2022, (The Archewell Foundation) focused on building out original programming that successfully launched in 2023.”
The funder added: “The Archewell Foundation is grateful for such a successful year and looks forward to continued growth in 2024.”
But Ms Krakue insisted 2023 has not been a good year for the Sussexes. She said: “I imagine the decline is only going to continue…
“Their reputation has calcified. Most people, in one way or another, have an opinion about the Sussexes – just not caring about them, or just not seeing the point of them. Even if you’re mega fans you cannot argue that 2023 has been a good year for the pair.”
On the drop in Archwell’s donations, the commentator said as “brand Sussex” is in freefall so does anything associated with them, including the foundation the Sussexes set up.
Ms Krakue said: “They’re learning the hard way that the public perception of them does affect their ability to be able to have the kind of impact they want to have.”
Her remark stands in contrast with recent polling carried out by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek showed Harry and Meghan are more popular in the US than they have been so far this year.
