Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's six awards they've won since quitting Royal Family

Since they stepped down as working royals in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been attempting to carve out a name for themselves in the US.

Their efforts have yielded mixed results, as while their Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan and the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare were huge commercial successes, they were slammed for their ongoing attacks against the Firm.

Nevertheless, some bodies have seen fit to celebrate the Sussexes with awards, with Meghan’s ill-fated podcast Archetypes coming in for particular praise.

While some of the awards are not likely to be familiar to Brits, the couple are continuing to be recognised around the world for their philanthropic work through their Archewell Foundation.

Here Express.co.uk takes a detailed look at the awards Harry and Meghan have received over the past four years and the controversy that has surrounded some of them.

Harry and Meghan were recognised back in February 2022 for their campaigning for social justice and equality across the globe, and showed up to the ceremony in Los Angeles to collect it in person.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said about the couple’s win in a statement: “We’re thrilled to present this award to Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who together have heeded the call to social justice and have joined the struggle for equity both in the US and around the world.

“Not only do they continue to lead by example, the Duke and Duchess have also decided to inspire the next generation of activists through the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, ensuring the support and recognition of generations of civil rights leaders to come.”

In the summer of 2022 Meghan released the only series of her podcast Archetypes produced in partnership with Spotify, as she interviewed a series of celebrities across 12 episodes.

In December of that year the Duchess was honoured with the People’s Choice Award, and although she did not show up to the ceremony in person she released a statement expressing her gratitude.

Archewell’s deal with Spotify was one of many multi-million dollar entertainment contracts signed with the couple, however just a year later they parted ways with the streaming giant and the podcast was cancelled.

In the same year, the Duke and Duchess were named receipients of this Human Rights award for their continued philanthropy, with Kerry Kennedy hailing the couple in a statement.

She said: “When the Duke and Duchess accepted our award laureate invitation back in March, we were thrilled. The couple has always stood out for their willingness to speak up and change the narrative on racial justice and mental health around the world.

“They embody the type of moral courage that my father [Robert F. Kennedy] once called the ‘one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”

Both Meghan and Harry attended the ceremony together, with the Duchess wowing fellow guests and royal watchers with her white ensemble.

Harry and Meghan were joined by Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland in NYC in May 2023 when she accepted this honour for her “global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls”.

However the win was somewhat overshadowed when the couple claimed they were hounded by the paparazzi in a “near catastrophic car chase” as they left the gala.

Others have disputed this version of events however, with their taxi driver Sukhcharn Singh agreeing that there were followed but their description of the event had been “exaggerated”.

There was another podcast award last spring for Meghan for her “groundbreaking” Archetypes series, however it seems it will not be followed up with another as the Duchess is no longer working with Spotify.

The company’s chief executive Daniel Ek said it had been a “mutual decision”, but the couple were later slammed as “grifters” by an exec working on the series.

Meghan was less than impressed, with a source telling Closer magazine: “Meghan is distraught over this Spotify snub and the fallout that has followed. It’s totally knocked her sideways.”

Pehaps the award that has raised the most eyebrows came just last week when Prince Harry was named a Living Legend of Aviation at a ceremony hosted by John Travolta.

The royal was reportedly recognised due to his military experience, having completed two tours of Afghanistan, and his work founding the Invictus Games for sick and injured ex-service personnel.

Royal commentators and military experts alike have slammed Harry being named alongside astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as an aviation legend, with some claiming his military experience was no more distinguished than any other soldier’s.