Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, thought they could get anything when they left the UK for America, but they couldn't.
Over 1.9 billion people witnessed their 2018 wedding, and the world hailed the birth of Prince Archie, their first child, a year later (Lilibet was born in 2021). They received worldwide sympathy for moving to the US and resigning as senior royals to save themselves and their young family from the monarchy.
The years since then have been riddled with failed business deals, tell-all books, and scathing royal family interviews. This support has reduced, leaving some wondering what happened.
"Harry and Meghan seemed to have unrealistic foals from the beginning," an insider told Star Magazine. "They believed they could have the best of both worlds."
In November 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex took a six-week holiday in Canada to reunite with their family amid growing royal family tensions and UK press scrutiny of Meghan. Their professional and personal relationships with his family—Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III, Prince William, and Princess Kate—ended, BBC reported.
At the start of their first year, they moved to Meghan's home state of California and bought a $14.65 million Montecito mansion. Then came $100 million and $20 million deals with Netflix and Spotify.
"Harry didn't look backward," the source said.
His and Meghan's royal connections have supported them from the start. In their bombshell 2021 CBS interview, they suggested that the palace was sheltering a racist royal and that Kate had made Meghan cry before her wedding. His tell-all memoir, “Spare,” was a smash in 2023 due to its unfavorable royal anecdotes.
"Harry seemed to give no thought to the consequences of their actions," the insider said. In 2022, he admitted, "I've lost a few friends in this process." Meghan split up with her best friend, Jessica Mulroney after the stylist was accused of racism.
Former “Suits” castmates thought she'd outgrown them.
"We don't have her number," her onscreen boss Gina Torres revealed earlier this year.
They never became Hollywood stars. Meghan's twelve-episode Spotify show, “Archetypes,” earned a People's Choice Award, but nothing further followed. Bill Simmons, a Spotify CEO and sportscaster, labeled the pair "f**king grifters" who were ignorant, CNN reported.
Their Netflix non-royal initiatives, such as “Live to Lead,” which features interviews with notable people from around the world, and “Pearl,” a children's series that was canceled midway through production, were similarly disappointing. Due to its unstable finances and staff turnover, its Archewell foundation was under examination.
Some called Meghan a "dictator in heels." Their previous quasi-royal travels to Nigeria and Colombia sparked questions about their purpose, and Meghan's American Riviera Orchard brand was mocked. His polo series will air in December, and her lifestyle show is developing.
