Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ‘toxic’ reason for separate appearances – expert

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent public appearances have been separate and not together with many questioning why this has been the case – and one brand expert says the reason for this is crucial

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent solo appearances have certainly raised eyebrows – especially after Meghan’s previous comments that they always “move together”.

They have made a string of solo appearances apart from each other and just last month, Harry was away from Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for at least two weeks with public appearances in New York, London, as well as Southern Africa.

During his travels, Meghan was barely seen, however, she did attend a star-studded gala in aid of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, wearing an eye-popping red gown as she posed for photographers. It also emerged she made a solo visit to a girls’ leadership organisation to mark International Day of the Girl.

It has set tongues wagging in the United States too with the couple’s local newspaper, the Montecito Journal picking up on the gossip surrounding the couple about their “increasingly separate lives”. But according to PR expert Ed Coram James, the separate appearances seem to be for a very strategic reason – with their joint brand now seen as ‘toxic’.

He told the Mirror : “Since their marriage, Harry and Meghan have had a distinct brand. That brand is based on a duo. Call it ‘Harry and Meghan’, call it ‘the Sussexes’, call it whatever you like. The fact is that for years they have become synonymous with one another.

“And, since the famous Oprah interview, in which they took a simmering disagreement between themselves and the rest of the Royal Family and essentially declared all-out-war, that brand has been steadily becoming more toxic and thus commercially untenable. To the point where not that many major brands are going to be rushing to write them a large cheque based on their brand value.

“This is because the ongoing confrontation with the rest of the Royal Family, as well as much of Meghan’s family, have made them appear confrontational and combative, their string of commercial projects that haven’t worked out and have led to a sense that they aren’t the best producers. And their worldwide publicity tour made them look whiney, ungrateful and unconscious to the enormous privilege that they have enjoyed.”

But despite their joint brand running into trouble, Ed, the CEO of PR firm Go Up believes it still can be salvaged – and in fact their current strategy is probably the best way to salvage the Sussex name. He explained: “To overcome the obstacles of appearing spoiled, arrogant, immature, attention-seeking, aggressive, fight-picking, hypocritical and incompetent is very tricky.

“But, it is achievable. To do it, they need to lean into the exact opposites of these labels. The first step in this always had to be to dissociate themselves from the brand that had achieved such labels in the first place.

“When combined, the Sussexes brand is, from a PR perspective, toxic. But, when separate, they have a genuine chance of creating an entirely separate brand, with completely different labels. If they manage to achieve this, then one day they could again reunite brands, and create a new combined brand that works.”