Obamas and Clintons could help Harry and Meghan in land of the speaking fee

If you are planning a future in North America, it pays to be friendly with the Obamas and the Clintons.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton both earned large book advances. Picture: AFP

If you are planning a future in North America, it pays to be friendly with the Obamas and the Clintons.

The former US presidential couples have proved masters of financial management, reaping vast fortunes from book contracts and speeches. They may now help the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do the same.

The Obamas and Clintons have expressed support for the Sussexes, and Harry and Meghan are said to be keen to emulate their approach in changing from public roles to fee-earning private figures.

Doubts that the Sussexes will be able to finance a life free of taxpayer-funded royal perks or handouts from royal relatives are likely to be blown away in a stampede of US offers, accompanied by staggering cheques.

A two-book deal for a pair of memoirs earned the Obamas a record $US65m joint advance. Bill Clinton pocketed $US15m for his 2004 autobiography; Hillary added $US14m in 2014.

Harry and Meghan might not be in quite the same literary league, but could earn “ginormous” sums for any book they might offer on royal life, according to US estimates.

The doors to America’s fabulously lucrative corporate speaking circuit will also swing open.

It doesn’t hurt the Sussexes that their US communications secretary, Sara Latham, previously worked for both the Obamas and the Clintons. Harry gets on well with Barack, who attended the prince’s Invictus Games for wounded veterans in 2017, while last year Meghan interviewed Michelle for her guest-edited edition of Vogue magazine.

The Sussexes have ties to the Obamas. Picture: AFP

The Sussexes’ unique combination of American glamour and British royal allure will guarantee them a platform at a wide range of deep-pocketed US charities, foundations, corporations and institutions eager to attract celebrity attention to causes of varying worthiness.

Meghan’s Hollywood connections, and her friendship with Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire queen of US talkshow television, offer the prospect of yet more riches.

Winfrey has already recruited Harry as her co-executive producer on a documentary about mental health (he is understood to be donating his fee to charity). It also emerged last week that Meghan has signed a voiceover deal with Disney to benefit an anti-poaching charity.

“They will need to make very smart decisions on who and where the money comes from, and every penny will need to be completely transparent,” notes a source who knows the couple.

Meghan has already spoken at length to Hillary Clinton, who visited the duchess and son Archie at their Frogmore Cottage home in Windsor in November.

In the Donald Trump era, Hillary has been no stranger to hostile scrutiny, and the Clinton Foundation has repeatedly been targeted for abuse by Trump supporters. Hillary told the BBC last year that she wanted to “hug” Meghan and “tell her to hang in there, don’t let those bad guys get you down”.

Harry and Meghan — who is already an important but unpaid fashion influencer — have applied to trademark their Sussex Royal brand for a wide range of goods. But any attempt to cash in on royal connections they have just disowned would be sure to cause a storm in Britain.

“Harry and Meghan could do worse than look at the template of the Prince of Wales, who has blazed a trail in turning a personal brand into a commercial enterprise,” said a royal source, referring to Charles’s Duchy Originals line. “But of course they won’t.”

The Sunday Times