‘Missing millions’: Harry and Meghan hit by shocking new claims as PR crisis snowballs
The Duke of Sussex’s attempt to repair his image and to relaunch himself has come unstuck with allegations of “missing millions” circulating.
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There are busy news days and there are slow news days where I plaintively ask if I can write
a lengthy tribute to Princess Anne’s magnificent pompadour.
And then there is today – a day with so much news that I would advise you now to get some electrolytes in.
For Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, two people who are the perpetual motion machine of royal news and who are no strangers to major plot twists and tight spots, has come a brutal 48 hours.
Netflix “disappointed” with Harry’s new show. Charity money having allegedly gone AWOL. A “ridiculous” attempt at damage control via supermarket tabloid. A visit to a tattoo parlour and a cheesy bit on a flailing late night show and …
Anyone else suddenly feel an urge to go and lie down in a dark room?
This is not where we should be today.
For much of the last week, Harry has been in New York doing his gosh damn darnedest to reclaim his credible philanthropist title by delivering speeches at events for the Diana Awards, the Halo Trust and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).
Surely he would have hoped that days of him standing on stages in suits and saying well-meaning words would have served as some sort of control-alt-Z for his image. Look, man doing good works! (And not just earning a quid badmouthing his family).
Rather, we have had a rat-a-tat-tat of such bad publicity Harry should consider investing in a crash helmet.
So, let me paint you a picture. It’s the annual meeting of the globally respected Clinton Foundation’s CGI meeting. The Duke of Sussex, in refresh mode, delivers what is widely hailed as a powerful speech about the harms of social media. He’s back – a man who can do public displays of altruism with the best of them.
When he came off stage he should have been able to revel in the moment, maybe go the full Hugh Hefner and let it all hang out and have a full fat latte in celebration.
Except, only “minutes” later, this triumphant moment was “hijacked” by a nearly comical attempt at crisis management, after a series of recent reports painted Meghan as a Stalin in Stella McCartney.
Uh oh ….
Things started to go off the rails earlier this month when The Hollywood Reporter published an explosive story about the Duchess of Sussex, calling her a “dictator in high heels” who is “just terrible”. Overnight, six years after the Sussexes’ then-communications secretary Jason Knauf sent an official complaint about the duchess’ alleged bullying up the Buckingham Palace chain, the image of her as an overly demanding boss was everywhere again.
The story only gathered steam. It was time for phasers to be set to maximum damage control – but unfortunately, according to the Times, it was only “minutes” after the Duke of Sussex left the CGI stage that Us Weekly put out a cover story so full of syrupy claims about what an amazing boss Meghan is they could give you contact type 2 diabetes.
The cover story from the supermarket tabloid was so floridly pro-Sussex it read like a press release, with Page Six then claiming that all of this drama “hijacked” Harry’s statesman comeback attempt.
As Tom Sykes, writing in the Times, noted: “The ridiculously one-sided article … gave the media the perfect opportunity to revive these dormant controversies. Yet again, the melodrama had overtaken the good works”.
What’s Californian for “massive own goal”?
I read more royal news than is medically advisable and the amount of actual coverage of Harry’s CGI speech has been limited. Meanwhile, the Meghan-is-a-tyrannical-boss narrative has continued to spread like an antibiotic resistant strain of strep throat.
Sykes, this time in the Daily Beast, ended the week reporting that people who had worked with the duchess has said she was a “demon” who had “psycho moments”.
Meanwhile, Harry did a spot on late night TV, appearing on Jimmy Fallon’s show (which was recently cut back to only being on four days a week) with the duo venturing into a haunted house for a naff bit. Hardly good for the duke’s ego that at one stage, one of the actresses in the Halloween-themed experience had to ask, “Who is that?”
The same day, the duke visited a New York tattoo parlour, though reportedly this was not to get inked, but for some sort of upcoming video outing. You have to wonder, who is advising him? And are they in need of a cold compress or a good dose of common sense or some light electroshock therapy?
We’re far from done yet, because over the weekend, things went from worse to worser to worst.
The Daily Mail has now alleged that two grants totalling $8.6 million made to the couple’s Archewell Foundation are “missing” from their tax return, though the Mail points out that it is “legal and possible the money will appear on the next return”.
This “missing millions” claim, per the Mail, will only “add to speculation that Meghan and Harry’s charity is being propped up by a handful of wealthy donors”.
(In May, Archewell was issued with a “delinquency notice” by California’s attorney general over a tax return or related fees, with the couple putting the issue down to a cheque having been sent that never arrived).
Next up on the bad news express, Harry’s bosses at Netflix are “disappointed” with his upcoming series about wealthy men riding horses at one another as they chase a small white ball, according to a separate Mail story. The creatively named POLO (yes, all in caps) “hardly features the Duke at all”.
One Hollywood producer has said: “What Netflix have received in return doesn’t look great. People want personal stuff. Any reasonable person tuning into a show about polo made by Prince Harry would expect Harry to take a starring role”.
“That he’s not is hugely disappointing for Netflix. Let’s face it, polo isn’t exactly a mainstream sport so the attraction would have been watching Harry. Without him, it’s marginal at best,” the source added.
“The Netflix deal expires next year, so the Sussexes need a big hit. This sounds like a big nothing burger.”
This week, the Duke will be in London and here’s hoping that he does not have any plans to visit piercing parlours or to appear on breakfast telly or that Team Sussex does not have any more attempts at PR fancy footwork up their sleeves.
How much more can the Sussexes’ image take? And how much more can us royal writers contend with before we do ourselves typing injuries listing it all off?
It might be a while before we get a chance for a nice go at an Anne hair story.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles
Originally published as ‘Missing millions’: Harry and Meghan hit by shocking new claims as PR crisis snowballs
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