Follow me on Twitter: RichardaedenWhen the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to California to seek their fortune, their cheerleaders claimed they would be a new power couple, like George and Amal Clooney, who attended their wedding, but with added royal mystique. Comparisons were even made with former US president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, whose highly lucrative move into books and podcasts they hoped to emulate.
They set up Archewell, a mixture of for-profit and not-for-profit business organisations, registered in tax-friendly Delaware, that they hoped would help give them the same sort of status as that which former US presidents including Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary derived from the foundations they had established.
Three months later, they sat down for their explosive television interview with their Santa Barbara neighbour Oprah Winfrey. Following Meghan’s claims in the interview that the future Princess of Wales had made her cry, and her allegations of racism among unnamed senior Windsors, the sofa chat caused a devastating rift with the Royal Family. It also alienated millions of people who had previously been sympathetic to Harry and Meghan.
The former actress had, apparently, decided that she deserved top billing. Fat lot of good it did her, though. Meghan’s solo series set the pattern for their future careers. She left Harry to promote his memoirs alone, as the book further antagonised the royals and their admirers around the world. What’s been most noticeable is that the duke has appeared far more relaxed than on his previous appearance in the city with his wife. That visit turned into a fiasco, with claims of a ‘high-speed car chase’ with paparazzi that were denied by the police.