We interrupt our usual program of me joking about Princess Anne's impressive updo to announce some breaking news: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has never looked better.
In a year in which the Duchess has largely avoided bling and other things (aside from her role as husband to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and most ardent supporter of his Invictus Games), Meghan has emerged in the appropriately chic Hamptons.
The Duchess was there over the weekend, joining the great, the good and the vaginally obsessed, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Bobbi Brown, Spanx founder Sara Blakely and Weight Watchers CEO Sima Sistani, for the high-profile, female-focused G9 Ventures Summer Summit.
Photos of the event shared on Instagram show Meghan was in the thick of it all, showing off her linen skills and, one has to assume, picking up some wise business tips as she is about to launch her own goopy lifestyle empire, American Riviera Orchard.
While Meghan and her trip to the Hamptons made headlines, so did her better half.
While the Duchess was spinning around, socialising and drinking as much kale juice as she could while the word ‘disrupt’ was being thrown around with inordinate frequency, Harry was also on everyone’s lips after appearing in front of the camera for a documentary called Tabloid newspapers in court.
In the hour-long special, the Duke spoke about his legal battles with British publishers and said his commitment to pursuing them was central to his falling out with the royal family. “These are the things we should be doing for the greater good,” he explained.
(A quick background: Last December, Harry won his case against Mirror Group Newspapers MGN for phone hacking and lawful intelligence gathering, calling the verdict a “monumental victory.”)
The Duke is also currently involved in legal proceedings for alleged phone hacking and lawful intelligence gathering against the The Daily Mail Parent company Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of Daily Mailand News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The
Sun and the no longer existing News from around the world(NGN is owned by the same parent company as News Corp Australia, the publisher of this masthead).
I speak on camera for Tabloid newspapersHarry said of his ongoing court battles, “the mission continues.”
But from a branding perspective, how does the Duke’s “mission” to right the alleged wrongs of the past fit with the Duchess’s relaunch as the Martha Stewart of the West Coast?
Or to put it another way: While Meghan seems to be focused on their shared future and defines herself through her entrepreneurial spirit, Harry's eyes seem to be on the rearview mirror.
Early 2023, after Harry and Meghan was broadcast and Spare part was released, the couple's then-publicist Ashley Hansen called these outings “vital 'look back' projects” and said the duo's work would “now look forward.”
But is Harry?
Before we go any further, we must make one thing clear. The psychological pain and torment that Harry and others Tabloid newspapers in court Participants such as Hugh Grant and Charlotte Church, who allegedly suffered as a result of hacking, were nothing short of appalling. Any right-thinking person should regard the practices revealed by the Leveson Inquiry as gross violations that have caused unimaginable harm. Hacking can and should only be discussed when it is absolutely reprehensible and morally repugnant.
The difficult part, however, comes when we ask: How do Harry and Meghan reconcile his “mission” with their “now forward-looking” brand aspect?
Oh sure, he has to oversee his Netflix polo series (“and what’s the red button doing again, Hank?”) and he and Meghan are working on the hit novel Meet me at the lake to the screen, but at this point in time these do not necessarily seem to be projects that will revitalize and rejuvenate Harry's image.
When you think about it, the US should really be Harry's natural environment. Tactical, ebullient, warm and charismatic, you would have thought that the Duke would have attracted a much wider and more enthusiastic support base than he does.
In May, a poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek found that Harry lagged behind Prince William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, in American popularity ratings.
When the Duke was named the recipient of the ESPY Awards' Pat Tillman trophy last month, it ended in a PR debacle. Mary Tillman criticized the choice of Harry, calling him “a controversial and polarizing figure,” and more than 78,000 people signed a petition urging the ESPYs to reconsider their choice.
The Duke of Sussex, the telegraph reported that he was “stunned by the loud backlash.”
Which leads us to the obvious question: Why did Americans react this way? What does Harry represent in the American public's imagination? For his public service, or for his willingness to expose the myriad failings of Crown Inc., his emotionally barren youth and young adulthood, and the sins (alleged and otherwise) of the press?
We cannot ignore the racial aspect – the US may be on the verge of re-electing a despicable man who once said, “Hitler did good things too” – but it would be impossible not to also, to some extent, ignore Harry's regular bouts of public shaming of his family.
With Oprah, with Spare part and with Harry and MeghanThe Duke managed to define himself largely through the blows and arrows he endured over the years in the thorny bosom of the palace.
Even now, more than three years after the Sussexes’ Oprah Winfrey interview, he was there in Tabloid newspapersand answers questions about the royal family.
On the outside, he doesn't seem to have the same zeal and enthusiasm for creating a bright future full of exciting projects and emails full of exclamation marks as his wife.
As far as we know, this is exactly how Harry and Meghan planned it: she makes money in the US, he leads a moral crusade in the UK. They could have carefully thought out this division of efforts with several colored markers and a flow chart.
From the outside, however, the Sussexes seem to be looking in two different directions, and only one of them comes home with a gift bag and a voucher for a free colonic irrigation recommended by Gwyneth.
Daniela Elser is an author, editor and royal commentator with more than 15 years Experience working with a number of leading Australian media titles.
