Harry, Meghan have not been seen together in US for 85 days

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not been seen doing one thing for nearly three months now.

One of the side effects of the pandemic was that time took on an elastic quality.

The year 2024 in the royal world has been the same.

Because those Soviets had a way with words — and beets, never forget the beets — let’s quote Lenin here who said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen”.

Are Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their Leninst era? Because it feels like it’s been years since the world was treated to their signature double act.

In fact it was August 4. That was the last time that Harry and Meghan were seen together on US soil, which feels like it was at least a few years ago.

Since then, Harry’s been jetting about the place doing some mock royaling of yore; Megan’s been walking the red carpet. Essentially, they have individually reverted to what appears to be their comfort zones.

We got so used to seeing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the same place. The happy couple after their engagement. Picture: Supplied

Over the last three months the duke and duchess have both kicked up their work into a higher gear, hung out with friends and old confidants and given us public event razzle dazzle — just generally not together.

The message coming out of Montecito is clear: this is just a normal, healthy relationship. The couple not being permanently attached at the hip simply reflects two people comfortable and strong enough in their union to give one another the space and breathing room to be their authentic selves.

Also, look at photos of the duke and duchess dancing in Colombia in August during their dupe of a royal tour and they seem as oooey-gooeyishly in love as ever, a boon for the diehard romantics out there.

However the opening chapter of the Sussex-arama seems to be over. Publicly, they are not joining forces in the way they used to.

The argument being made is that they are in the midst of a bit of savvy brand re-engineering: The Duke of Sussex is returning to his roots and focusing on charity; the Duchess of Sussex is concentrating on building out her entrepreneurial interests.

Still, over the last 85 days, they have been going their separate ways work and public identity-wise.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle packed on the PDA as their Colombian tour wrapped up. Picture: Supplied

In January, Harry flew solo when he was recognised at the Legends of Aviation Awards and then in February when he made a surprise appearance at the NFL Honours ceremony in February in Las Vegas. The father-of-two jetted to New York for a series of events connected to their Archewell Foundation in September alone.

This month, Meghan attended a recent black tie LA charity gala sans ‘Aitch’ and it was only the former Suits star who repped their Archewell Foundation at an event for a girls’ organisation they help support.

It’s also been a while and a half since, while in the US, we have seen Harry and Meghan out and about in supportive partner mode aside from in July when, after a swift and substantial backlash, the duke collected the Pat Tillman Award at the ESPYs with the duchess in the audience.

Last September both the duke and duchess appeared at Kevin Costner’s glitzy charity bash and handed out a gong; this year, only Harry attended. (Meghan was reportedly sick.)

In 2024, the time that the Sussexes have been seen together most frequently have been overseas doing knock-off royal tours, first in Nigeria in May and then in Colombia in August. There, they looked like the duke and duchess of old.

Meghan and Harry pose for a photo at Centro Nacional de las Artes Delia Zapata during a visit to Colombia on August 15, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. Picture: Diego Cuevas/Getty Images

But back on American soil, it has been a different story, both professionally and socially.

They have not been papped enjoying chummy dinners with A-listers like last year when the Sussexes hit a local Japanese restaurant with Camreaon Diaz and her husband Benji Madden or been seen yukking it up with room fulls of people who all have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame like when they attended Ellen DeGeneres’ vow renewal. There has been no concert-going (Katy Perry and Beyonce) or them snapped out on date nights.

All we have to go on here is what is happening publicly- and publicly we are in the midst of something of a Sussex + Susssex drought.

Their Archewell Productions arm has two confirmed series coming from their Netflix deal but they are individual projects. He’s made a show about (predominantly ) wealthy men on horses; she’s made something lifestyle-y.

When Harry turned 40 in September, he put out a statement to People and the BBC (which just about perfectly sums up the multiple personality disorder of his life) and did not mention his wife of six years.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared loved up during their Colombian tour. Picture: Supplied

After a series of brutal stories came out, including from The Hollywood Reporter and The Daily Beast, about the duchess, which called her “just terrible” and a “demon” boss who had “psycho moments” there was no joint damage control of them, say doing a love dovey public appearance.

One argument to be made is that maybe they simply don’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone after two kids, six years of marriage, two international moves, a six-part TV series, a slew of huge business deals later, and one Buckingham Palace foundation-shaking interview. After all, what is 85 days when you consider they have survived the 1,755 since Megxit?

As Meghan herself said of their relationship, when she read out her wedding speech for the Netflix cameras: “And when the tides were rough, they squeezed each other tighter. ‘Nothing can break us,’ they’d say. ‘For this love, she was a fighter.’

“Above all, love wins”.

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.