Prince Harry speech leaves onlookers baffled
A video has emerged of the Duke of Sussex at what appears to be a paid speaking gig, and there’s a detail that left many speechless.
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What’s cringier do you reckon? A repro crystal tiara being sold by the Buckingham Palace gift shop that looks like a leftover prop from some Hallmark dross? Or the chance to saw through a dry chicken breast in a hotel conference room while Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex delivers some limp lines? Both will set you back about the same amount, around $300.
After years of various members of the royal family achieving SNLs – Sad New Lows – we have really hit quite the nadir today with video emerging of Harry delivering a joyless speech at the British American Business Council’s annual Christmas lunch, his second allegedly paid speaking gig in a matter of only days.
Compared to Harry of Old, this speech was a lethargic performance, the 41-year-old looking down and generally exuding the level of pep of a deflated, sagging balloon on January 3.
I’ll warn you – the video of him speaking is not a comfortable watch: Cutlery scraping across plates and drinks being topped up while the fifth in line to the throne, looking like his soul and dignity have fled the building, delivers pre-prepared quips perfect for the 11pm set at the Sunlight Lounge. (“People sometimes ask if growing up with the Royal family was a bit like … Downton Abbey. Yeah, but only one of those worlds is filled with drama, intrigue, elaborate dinners, marriages to Americans, and the other is a TV show.”)
What’s remarkable here is that this was the second time in under a week the duke had seemingly hired himself out for a speaking gig. Four days earlier, 400 real estate agents had piled into a conference room at the Toronto Hilton to hear him speak at the Ontario Real Estate Association’s annual gathering. For about $300, attendees could hear from a man who, until age 35, lived in freebie houses provided by his Granny; however that was not enough to move all the tickets.
“It was … not sold out,” a source told NewsNation’s Paula Froelich.
At least he was self-aware enough to have told the crowd, according to the Daily Mail, “I’m not here to give advice. Especially not in housing.”
Photos and videos were reportedly banned. Can’t ever think why not.
So I hear you ask, what’s it cost to book the King of Great Britain’s son for your next event?
Until this month it had been nearly six years since Harry had given a paid-for speech when, in the weeks after Megxit in early 2020, he spoke at a JP Morgan-backed event at a luxury Florida hotel, pulling in a reported $1.5 million fee. Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex was there too and introduced her husband.
And now? According to Tom Sykes of The Royalist and The Daily Beast, “$300,000 [$AUD452,000] is a figure that I’ve heard being bandied around for … that kind of speaking engagement”.
Harry’s drop in sticker price, if this figures are in the correct ballpark, is a bit of a depressing reflection of how far the Sussex star has slumped since they departed the UK in a blaze of strong words and missed calls from desperate Netflix execs wondering how many zeros they should put on the cheque.
Remember how big Harry and Meghan were those early covidy months of 2020? When the Sussexes looked destined to spend their days jetting between boardrooms and Bilderberg Group breakout sessions and mimosa brunches with Barack and Beyonce, not hawking jam like baronial Bonne Mamans.
However, since 2020, the UN appears to no longer be calling and about $1 million, if these numbers hold water, has fallen off Harry’s alleged asking price. (Barack Obama, for what it’s worth, is reportedly paid about $600,000 a pop to speak.)
Maybe the cost of living crisis is sparing no one and the Duke of Sussex is suddenly doing these sorts of speaking gigs to keep the cashola rolling in. He and his duchess don’t exactly live modest, homebrand-lives.
While the value of the Montecito estate has reportedly skyrocketed to $43 million, they have a staff to pay for, their Archewell Foundation to somehow bank roll, a seven acre estate to run and an annual security bill that has been pegged at between $3 and $4.5 million, security experts have previously told Forbes.
To pull even the lower estimate for bodyguards in revenue, much less profit, Meghan’s As ever brand would have to shift more than 160,000 of jars of her famous not-jam spreads.
Or maybe Harry’s doing these speeches all of a sudden because, why the hell not? Podcast deals are hardly likely to be falling into his lap given that in two and a half years with Spotify never saw him get an idea across the line.
The same floppy fate met his two solo Netflix series – Heart of Invictus and Polo. Polo, released in December last year, logged a sad 500,000 views to rank #3436 in the first half of this year, according to the streamer’s own data.
I think there are live streams of paint drying doing better numbers.
Another option for Harry would be to write another book, given Spare broke records and flew off shelves like a feelings-full bookish Pegasus. Unfortunately, to pull in a fat book deal, the father-of-two would have to pen another royal tell-all and should he do that, what small, fragile green shoot of a rapprochement with the King would be immediately snuffed out. It would be all over, red rover, once and for all.
Or maybe Harry and Meghan are doing just fine, given that he donated more than $2 million to the UK’s Children in Need charity earlier this year and donated $750,000 to help wounded veterans in Ukraine.
Maybe Harry’s just doing the speaking circuit to get out of the house more or because he is passionate about supporting Ontarian real estate agents to sell more semi-detached three bedders or because Meghan keeps asking him to join her in her crafting barn. Anything to avoid hot glue gunning amiright?
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
Originally published as Prince Harry speech leaves onlookers baffled
