Harry and Meghan’s Professional Future Murky as Ex-‘Working Royals’ Return to Prodigal Prince’s Homeland

With professional opportunities appearing bleak and uncertain, the imminent relocation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Britain leaves open to the imagination how exactly Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will spend their days.On Monday a spokesman for Prince Harry announced that he will be stepping down from the board of a preservation charity, African Parks, of which he had previously been the president. The organization, which manages 20 national parks across 12 countries, touts in a statement a “governance refresh of its board of directors.” Last year African Parks admitted that some of its rangers had beaten, raped, and tortured indigenous people at the Odzala-Kokoua National Park. An independent audit into African Parks was conducted by a London-based law firm, Omnia Strategy, led by Cherie Blair, the wife of the former prime minister. A Sussex spokesman insists that the prince is “proud of his 10 years with African Parks and fully supports the ongoing strengthening of its board.” Five months ago Prince Harry resigned from another charity, Sentebale, which supports children with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana — a cause dear to the prince’s late mother, Princess Diana. The royal departure followed what a watchdog called a “hostile takeover” of the charity by its current chairwoman, Sophie Chandauka. The prince resigned alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho after Ms. Chandauka accused them of bullying, harassment, and abuse of power. A review failed to find bullying but blamed both sides of the dispute for poor behavior. The Duke of Sussex declared that he was “truly heartbroken.” Ms. Chandauka countered, “There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card.”In 2020 Prince Harry and the duchess ceased being “working royals,” which means that they no longer have official duties on behalf of the Crown. It also means that they have been stripped of their “HRH” — his and her royal highness — honorific. Another condition of their freedom from the ceaseless circuit of royal obligations is that they can no longer access the Crown’s coffers. The return of the Sussexes to Britain has prompted speculation that the duchess could return to acting, her profession before she married Prince Harry and joined the House of Windsor in 2018. Meghan rose to some fame playing Rachel Zane on the legal thriller “Suits” from 2011 to 2018. Prior to that she had minor roles on “CSI: New York” and “90210.” Initial reports suggested that she could find a role on season three of Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen,” a Netflix series based in the United Kingdom. On Sunday, though, the royal watcher Tina Brown reported that such a possibility “has been withdrawn because the backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward.” The duchess recently played herself on an Amazon MGM comedy “Close Personal Friends,” which stars Lily Collins and Brie Larson. That was the first time she acted, as it were, in nearly a decade. Ms. Markle, who along with her husband accused the royal family of racism during an appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s television show, remains deeply unpopular in Britain. While the Sussexes’ Golden State sojourn featured no shortage of challenges, it did prove lucrative. They signed a $100 million contract with Netflix and another with Spotify for $20 million. Prince Harry also received a $20 million advance for his memoir, “Spare,” which went on to become one of the bestselling nonfiction titles of all time, resulting in royalties for the royal. The Sussexes will reportedly live at a private — meaning non-royal — residence outside London. One possibility is that they could lodge somewhere on Diana’s ancestral seat, Althorp, which stretches some 13,000 acres. If the Spencers decide to give the Sussexes a familial discount, they could even live rent-free. Prince Harry and Meghan plan to retain their Montecito, California, mansion, which they bought for $14.6 million in 2020. One broker reckons it could now fetch between $55 million and $65 million.The Sussexes’ obligations grew last week when an English High Court judge, Matthew Nicklin, ruled that Prince Harry and a consortium of other defendants must pay some $13 million to Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, following a failed lawsuit against the tabloid, which is receiving millions more in legal fees. The prince had sought to hold Associated Newspapers liable for $67 million, but Justice Nicklin ruled against him on all 97 counts.Prince Harry, who served for 10 years in the British Armed Forces, can at least busy himself with a robust array of charitable commitments. Chief among them are the Invictus Games, which will be held at Birmingham next July. He is also a patron for WellChild. He made appearances for both of those charities when he returned to Britain last month — a trip that concluded with a summit between the Sussexes, King Charles, and Queen Camilla that is believed to have set the stage for the imminent full-scale return. That meeting, though, did not include Prince William and Princess Kate. In 2016 the Sussexes and Waleses founded the Royal Foundation, under whose roof the two families coordinated their charitable efforts. In 2019, though, the Sussexes split from the Royal Foundation, an early sign of a rift that remains unhealed.

Harry and Meghan’s Professional Future Murky as Ex-‘Working Royals’ Return to Prodigal Prince’s Homeland

Harry and Meghan’s Professional Future Murky as Ex-‘Working Royals’ Return to Prodigal Prince’s Homeland

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