Meghan Markle's Career Looks Bright Compared to Prince Harry

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's career crisis will hit him harder because his royal DNA is "a hindrance," a PR expert told Newsweek.

Just as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's U.S. popularity had been on its way back up, the collapse of their Spotify deal has triggered a new career crisis.

And as if to remind the prince what he turned his back on, King Charles III, Prince William and the royals spent last weekend bathing in the warm glow of uniformly positive media coverage from Trooping the Colour, Charles' first birthday parade as monarch.

Prince Louis melted hearts, Kate Middleton won praise for her outfit and Princess Charlotte shared a sweet moment with her dad, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

And it all came a day after Spotify executive Bill Simmons called the exiled Sussexes "f****** grifters."

No one can change the past, however, so for Harry and Meghan the bigger question is the future and Eric Schiffer, head of Reputation Management Consultants, told Newsweek Meghan's recent solo deal with talent agency WME may set her up for a bright future.

"This is big," he said, "she's working with the best in the business and they will help her with strategic counsel and relationships that will lead to a higher level positioning, elevating her brand, but also maximizing opportunities in a strategic way.

"These will be bigger deals that are typically available to A-list talent."

He said Meghan would have options both in the media but also in fashion and lifestyle, though rumors of an imminent deal with Dior appear to have been wide of the mark.

Meanwhile, Harry may struggle to move away from the era of the royal hand grenade because his status as a blood royal could restrict the options available to him, Schiffer said.

"Would he, given his royal DNA, be uncomfortable to sign with WME at all? The DNA may have been a hindrance for him at this juncture in his life," he said. "I think his best path is to forget his past and stop the complaining.

"That's been played out and if he needs to further share his emotional pain that should be done one on one with his dad.

"Instead he should re-focus back on what was making a difference, which was taking his attention with the media and the soft power that he has as a royal and use that in ways that help future generations in the world focus on equality and the environment and mental health."

Reputationally, 2023 has been arguably the hardest year yet for the couple, beginning with Harry being ridiculed over a story in his book Spare about putting Princess Diana's favorite lip cream on his frostbitten penis.

In January, Harry and Meghan's U.S. popularity went into free fall, dropping 45 points and 36 points respectively.

They became targets for comedians from South Park to Chris Rock, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and even Trevor Noah, who was himself a guest on Meghan's Archetypes podcast.

Since then, their standing with the U.S. public has improved and they now stand at +18 for Harry and +6 for Meghan.

In Britain, the reputational fire has if anything been burning more fiercely, and in previously unlikely places.

This week, U.K. Black Lives Matter activist Imarn Ayton told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "The one that irks me the most, is when they decided to use black people as a weapon, as a tool when they needed support. That is my issue.

"'Let's get support from the black community. Let's talk about racism, and then three years later let's say: 'We didn't talk about racism.' They brought us on that journey with them and then just kind of dumped us at the end. They used us."

Meghan famously told Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 how an unnamed senior royal had "concerns and conversations" about how dark her unborn child's skin might be but in January Harry told ITV and 60 Minutes it was not an allegation of racism but rather unconscious bias.

There are signs from within the Sussex camp that they may themselves appreciate the need to move on from the past.

Ben Browning, their head of content, and marketing chief Fara Taylor, were let go in January, as the couple's spokesperson at the time said: "They played a critical role in helping to tell the stories of the Duke and Duchess thus far and the couple remain hugely grateful for their support on those vital 'look back' projects, as they now look forward."

Then there was a statement released on Meghan's behalf denying a U.K. press report that she skipped the coronation over anger about letters she exchanged with Charles.

Her spokesperson suggested Meghan is "going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondences from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago."

However, past comments by Simmons as far back as January 2022 may sting for Harry as he tries to reshape his future: "You live in f****** Montecito and ... nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family."

Schiffer said: "I think it's consistent with what Bill Simmons said, which is that unless he's talking about certain things, no one cares and it's likely that Spotify nuked it because they can't see the return on investment potential.

"For instance, if Harry moves outside of his past pain, people could not care less. I don't think that's the case with Meghan.

"That area of value may suggest why you saw Meghan move towards building her future herself vs doing it as part of a couple."

Meghan moved fast enough that she at least had her deal with WME in place before the Spotify collapse was announced.

Harry does have his own solo projects, including his role as chief impact officer at tech start-up BetterUp.

But if he is going to relaunch himself in the way Meghan is seemingly attempting to do, then it is as yet unclear how he will do this.

Meanwhile, the loss of a revenue stream comes at a time when he currently has five ongoing lawsuits, each racking up significant court costs.

Newsweek was recently told by Mark Stephens, U.K. attorney at Howard Kennedy, that these could hit $20 million if he loses the lot, but he could also be left paying millions if he wins.

He said: "People are entitled to go to court, but whether he wins some or all of these cases he's going to come out net down because you never recover, even if you win, 100 percent of your costs.

"You might get 60 or 70 percent. So let's say he's spending somewhere between £6 million [$7.5 million] and £10 million [$12.5 million] on these cases. He's going to recover £6 million and he will be left with a bill for the rest.

"That's if he wins the lot of them. If he loses them, he could be in for paying another £6 million to the other side."

Harry remains more popular in America than Meghan is, but the question remains whether he can translate that popularity into income without betraying his family.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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