Harry and Meghan’s $180 million windfall on the line

It has been a week of bad news for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as the worsening economic climate puts them in the firing line.

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This weekend Americans will devolve into paroxysms of flag wavin’, grillin’, and beer drinkin’ as they celebrate the 4th of July weekend. On that day back in 1776, the country rejected the rule of the British monarchy and declared they wanted to go it alone, ratifying the Declaration of Independence. (Thank you Thomas Jefferson and your way with a quill.)

A couple of centuries later two more people – Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex – followed nearly the same path, sans muskets though, and announced that they too had had enough of existing under the monarchy’s thumb.

For Harry and Meghan in 2020, as in the 1770s, the New World waited, brimming with promise and other cliches.

But for the couple, like the republic, what started with such promise and optimism has started to come apart at the seams.

Harry and Meghan have started to come apart. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation.

In fact, events of the last week paint a bleak picture of the United States of Sussex.

At the heart of things is the fact that they have failed to win over Americans.

The most recent polling in late May has shown that 48 per cent of people have a total favourable view of Harry, down from 54 per cent in March last year. Meanwhile, currently 30 per cent of respondents reported a negative view of him, an increase from 26 per cent in 2021.

There is no sort of home-ground advantage for Meghan whose total favourability, 45 per cent, is unchanged from last year. Meanwhile, those with a negative view of her have increased from 33 per cent in 2021 to 36 per cent now.

Perhaps one way to understand this sorry state of affairs is to ask; what have they actually done to earn the support or endorsement of the US?

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex might have thrown off the supposedly restrictive yoke of the monarchy and spoken truth to power in prime time, but more than two years into their lives in California they don’t really stand for anything.

A recent poll found those with a negative view of Meghan have increased from 33 per cent in 2021 to 36 per cent.

At regular interviews they have taken it upon themselves to put out statements about things such as the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and vaccine equality but as leaders they have proven to be the celebrity equivalent of cardboard straws- a good idea in theory and which in actuality is just all a bit soggy and useless.

On Wednesday, Vogue US published a conversation between Meghan, Gloria Steinem and journalist Jessic Yellin about the Supreme Court’s recent horrifying reversal of Roe vs Wade. It should have been a real get – the articulate and educated young advocate (the duchess) and the battle-tested icon (who are friends) speaking candidly.

(Full, vociferous credit here for Meghan for not staying silent at this terrifying juncture in the US for women.)

24-hours after the piece appeared online, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Forbes and Time, all of which have previously covered the Sussexes, had reported on what once would have been a news-making conversation.

Ask yourself, what actually sets them apart, aside from titles, from the other celebrities with causes (Kim Kardashain and criminal justice reform; Leonardo DiCaprio and the environment); the other celebrities with charitable foundations (Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cryus and myriad other stars) or the other celebrities who probably have Oprah’s personal mobile number (Kim again, Barack Obama, and Rihanna)?

Fundamentally, after nearly 850 days of living and working in the United States, Harry and Meghan have yet to make any real political, cultural or social impact while all the while their precious momentum sputters out.

Overall, it’s been a case of Yankee Doodle Don’t.

Part of this could be attributed to the fact that their careers as content producers have so far have failed to soar. (Work with me here- eagles, gettit?) They might have nabbed enough big name deals to keep Variety in headlines but thus far their output could be jotted down on a beer coaster.

Harry and Meghan have yet to make any real political, cultural or social impact while all the while their precious momentum sputters out. Picture: Matt Dunham / Pool / AFP.

The recent travails of the US stock market should make them nervous. (Stick with me here.) Netflix has had $290 billion wiped off its value in two months, which has translated into some high profile bloodletting. A number of upcoming shows from a number of producers, including the children’s cartoon the duchess had been working on, have been axed.

In April, Netflix announced they are on track to lose two million subscribers this quarter, prompting the share market to go into panic mode, lopping nearly 70 per cent off the company’s value.

In this climate, Harry and Meghan will have to earn their keep, which might go some way to explaining the reality-like series they are reportedly working on for the streamer.

(Will we see the duke and duchess bicker about who drank the last of the matcha or witness their son Archie taking out a $1700 Kelly Wearsteler lamp while practising with his tiny polo mallet? Such voyeuristic access would go a long way to staying on the right side of Netflix bosses surely.)

Meanwhile, over at Spotify, things do not augur that much better for the Sussexes. Earlier this week it was announced that the streaming platform had parted ways with some of their other A++-list hires, former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama.

There has been no sign as yet of Meghan’s debut podcast called Archetypes, a series she has promised will “explore and subvert the labels that try to hold women back,” and which is set to launch sometime this northern summer.

Harry has yet to announce any audio project of his own. Picture: Valerie Macon / AFP.

Harry, meanwhile, has yet to announce any audio project of his own.

Spotify has gotten very, very little bang so far for all those bucks.

The bigger picture here is that being a duke and duchess does mean they are immune to the chilly economic winds sweeping the US and Australia. A hell of a lot has changed for Netflix and Spotify since they got their cheque books out in 2020 and with recession talk and a sweeping cost of living crisis, big-budget hires such as the Sussexes could face a frigid future.

Or, as Scott Galloway, a New York University Stern Business School Professor very bluntly said of the couple during a recent episode of his influential media and technology Pivot podcast: “What the f**k have they done? A whole lot of nothing … You’re just going to see a lot of [companies deciding] give up these high profile celebrity feel good partnerships because all of a sudden, s**t’s gotten real in the market.”

It’s not just the vast, vast skads of money that are on the line here but the wholesale success of the gamble they took when they walked away from royal life. Are Harry and Meghan on the precipice of becoming respected producers or are they about to become a cautionary tale? Are they about to live their very own American dream, or an American nightmare of their own making?

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles

Originally published as Harry and Meghan’s $180 million windfall on the line