Prince Harry ‘used’ coronation to ‘plug’ megabucks fashion deal
Prince Harry reportedly used his father’s big moment to “audition” for a deal with a major fashion label as Meghan Markle looks to become the world’s “highest paid influencer”.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Prince Harry “used” his father’s historic coronation to plug Meghan’s reported burgeoning deal with French fashion house, Dior.
And in the wake of the couple’s Spotify disaster, a public relations expert has said that the couple are figuring out it’s “easier to be a clothes horse than an issues warrior”.
Indeed, the Duke of Sussex’s decision to wear a Christian Dior suit for his flying visit to attend King Charles’ May coronation is being viewed by royal watchers and PR experts as a “plug” for his wife – or a bid for work himself.
Prince Harry is also likely to be part of any deal with Dior because the famous label will be determined to have a royal promoting its menswear, it has been claimed.
Recently, during his appearances at court in London, he wore the label’s $1500 “Bee” shirts, while he also wore Dior during an appearance at the UN last year.
PR expert Mark Borkowski told the Daily Mail that’s it’s not confirmed whether a deal has yet been signed off.
“It shows that they have great power in fashion and they are wanted by fashion houses. It is easier to be a clothes horse than an issues warrior,” he said.
Meghan wore Dior when she attended the National Service of Thanksgivingin London to celebrate the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last June.
Dressed in all white, she wore a trench coat, skirt, and shirt from the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2022 collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri, a white hat from Dior by Stephen Jones, Dior gloves, and Dior D-Moi shoes.
She has also worn Dior to the Queen’s funeral, Archie’s baptism and other major events and royal tours before she and her husband ditched royal life.
“It could be a case of poking the bear (to get a deal) or I suspect that is something that has been running for a while in terms of a negotiation and it now manifests itself into something,” Mr Borkowski told the Daily Mail.
“It’s no coincidence that they are veering towards fashion. They are more comfortable in this world. Style over substance. It does seem to be a series of weird coincidences: Harry wears a Dior suit at the coronation and Dior at the hacking case and now a deal may be in the offing.”
Meanwhile, brand and culture expert Nick Ede said: “Harry will be part of the deal for sure. Dior are so well known for their menswear that I’m sure they will have wanted to seal an exclusive contract between them both.”
MEGHAN ‘COULD BECOME WORLD’S RICHEST INFLUENCER’
News emerged earlier this week that Meghan could become the new face of French fashion house Dior, in a bid by her management company to “reinvent” her image.
Experts have suggested Meghan could become one of the highest paid influencers in the world, if she chose to endorse major fashion labels and could even earn a staggering $375,000 per post.
The Sussexes were embarrassed after audio giant Spotify announced that they would not be renewing Meghan’s podcast Archetypes for a second season following a “mutual” decision – which could see the couple losing $10 million.
But, according to a report in the New York Post, Meghan is set to weather the storm, reclaiming her identity with one insider close to the California-based couple claiming she could be “worth hundreds of millions of dollars” if she does accept the brand deals reportedly being thrown her way.
According to the Daily Mail, Hollywood insiders have claimed Meghan is “all anyone is talking about”.
“There have been rumours for weeks that she’s about to sign a deal with Dior which has put the gossip mill into overdrive,” one source claimed.
“If she pulls that off, then no one will remember that her silly little podcast got cancelled after one season.”
However, a source at Meghan’s LA-based management company, WME, alleged that they knew that the podcast announcement was coming.
The insider claimed that this rumoured move to Dior may come as a “shock” to other members of the public, but that the agency has reportedly been “working on the rebranding of Meghan for weeks”.
Experts have suggested that if the Dior deal does go ahead it could even rival the revenue Kim Kardashian has brought in over the years through her partnership with Dolce & Gabanna – which saw her paid $68 million for simply wearing the designer on her wedding day.
As part of her revamp, the Duchess has befriended marketing expert Victoria Jackson, who was behind one of the first TV “infomercial” make-up empires.
She is married to Bill Guthy, whose marketing company Guthy-Renker, helped former supermodel Cindy Crawford turn her Meaningful Beauty line of cosmetics into a $150 million brand. She also represents Jennifer Lopez’s company, JLo Beauty.
It would be a boost to the Duchess after Spotify canned her podcast series, Archetypes.
It was reported that the pair’s Archewell media company didn’t produce enough content to receive the full payout of the roughly $20 million deal that the Sussexes signed in 2020.
A joint statement from Spotify and Archewell Audio said that they have “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together”.
The 12-episode podcast series, in which Meghan explored the “labels that try to hold women back,” was the only project that the couple produced during their two-and-a-half year partnership with Spotify, along with a one-off holiday special.
Eric Schiffer, who is the chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, told The Mail on Sunday that Markle’s team will “use the drama to her advantage,” and is seemingly seeking to “distance herself from the toxic emotional drama that Harry seems unable to put in the past.”
Currently, Markle’s husband, Prince Harry, is embattled in an ongoing legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers.
But Schiffer claimed that Meghan will look ahead and “focus on the positive”
“She will go back to an image of a strong, successful woman who built her own career and will focus on serious women’s issues, but also things that are fun and aspirational, like couture fashion,” he told the outlet.
In 2020, the couple reportedly signed an $100 million deal with Netflix for their documentary series, “Harry and Meghan” which premiered last December.
In January, Prince Harry released his bombshell memoir, “Spare,” in which he branded his brother, Prince William, as his “arch-nemesis.”
The couple was not present for the weekend’s Trooping the Colour festivities.
QUEEN FEARED REPUBLIC WOULD MAKE HER A ‘LAME DUCK
Meanwhile, it has been revealed the late Queen Elizabeth was concerned she would become a “lame duck” monarch with no successor if Australia decided to become a republic at the end of her reign, according to former governor-general Sir William Deane’s letters.
“Her Majesty took careful note of the reaction you have given to the emerging opinion, in government and party circles, that the end of the Monarchy in Australia should be signalled by the end of The Queen’s reign,” the Queen’s private secretary wrote to Sir William in June 1996.
“(T)ying the end of the Monarchy to her death would be unfortunate … it would make her something of a ‘lame duck’ Sovereign in that, for an indeterminate space of time, the people of Australia would be watching the sun set on a reign which has no successor.”
The letters were first revealed by The Australian in January 2022 and these new letters have become publicly available after a review of redactions with the National Archives of Australia.
The letters also reveal that the Queen “certainly regards the future of the Crown in Australia as a matter for the Australian people” but was “extremely interested” in the Howard government favouring a debate about Australia becoming a republic when the Queen abdicated or died.
Sir William, who held office from 1996 to 2001, and wrote regularly to Buckingham Palace offering honest views on politics and policy, supporting indigenous reconciliation, attacking the “intolerant and ignorant” views of Pauline Hanson and providing updates on the republic debate, the GST introduction and sale of Telstra. The letters still include many redactions with 45 folios remaining partially exempted following the review.
Originally published as Prince Harry ‘used’ coronation to ‘plug’ megabucks fashion deal
Meghan’s BFF spills on their friendship
One of Meghan’s closest friends has shared details of their relationship amid a challenging few weeks for the duchess.
Magazine’s savage two-word Meghan diss
The Duchess of Sussex returned to the spotlight this week, and one US publication had something brutal to say about her career.