Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview with Prince Harry is an act of royal balancing

The long-running interview of the stars, on TV and streaming on Sunday at 20:00 ET on CBS,

marks the culmination of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s efforts to take control of the way their lives are portrayed in the media and to support what seems, so far, to be a rare example of the British royal success. which is known as the “Company” to earn big money.

But tensions with their former employer are rising. On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace said it was investigating allegations in the British newspaper Times of London that the Duchess of Sussex had assaulted his assistants while working there. The Duchess of Sussex denies this.

Meanwhile, a teaser clip of Oprah’s interview shows the duchess accusing the palace of “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Prince Harry. “If this comes with the risk of losing things, I mean there are a lot of things that have already been lost,” she says.

An inappropriate public spit risks tarnishing the monarchy and, in turn, the birthmark of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, says Rita Clifton, a former president of the brand consulting firm Interbrand. “Like any brand relationship, you want to make sure both are valuable and you don’t want your association to kill the golden goose,” she says.

Initially, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tried to keep a foothold in the royal family. They marked the “Sussex Royal” brand and hoped to imitate other minor kings who retain their military titles and perform some royal functions while holding jobs. But officials at Buckingham Palace said no. The Sussex Royal brand was abandoned and all official ties were severed last month.

This total split was a blow to Sussex, according to officials. But it could prove a commercial blessing for the couple, who are now free to use their royal background without interference from Buckingham Palace, says David McClure, who has published books on the finances of British royalty, including “The Queen’s True Worth”.

After moving to Montecito, California last year, Sussex created Archewell Audio LLC and Archewell Productions LLC to create audio and video content. They also founded an Archewell Foundation to support their charity work.

They signed an agreement to create content for Netflix Inc.

and another to present podcasts for Spotify Technology TO

. The multi-year deal with Netflix is ​​worth about $ 100 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

They’re signed by the Harry Walker Agency for speaking missions. The terms of these contracts are not public. The couple no longer receives a scholarship from Prince Harry’s father, Prince Charles, or funds from UK taxpayers.

Sussex could become a billion-dollar entity in the next decade if it chooses to support products such as cosmetics or clothing, says David Haigh, executive director of Brand Finance PLC, a British brand appraisal company.

But a lot depends on whether the content they produce for Netflix or Spotify is popular and whether they can stay on good terms with Queen Elizabeth, he says. “He would make more money if he did everything amicably.”

So far, the couple is playing a cautious hand. They appeared at a conference organized by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Miami last year. The Duchess of Sussex recently told a Disney nature documentary about elephants, a project she started before leaving her royal duties. A Spotify podcast immediately after Christmas featured the couple’s son, Archie. The Duchess has invested in a brand of instant coffee.

The closest thing to controversy was a video call to Prince Harry before the US election for people to reject the “hate speech, misinformation and negativity” that some commentators saw as part of then-President Donald Trump. and a violation of the old royal family political neutrality. Prince Harry’s advisers have denied it.

“The palace will be worried,” says Mr McClure. If you give up the British royal family, “you still have the royal glow on your shoulders, whether you like it or not. So you will monetize the ties to the monarchy and you will be embarrassed for the monarchy. ”

Last month, the couple said they remained “committed to their duty and service to the UK and around the world”, and counselors downplay the idea that they will do anything that is not in line with these values.

The British monarchy is full of examples of royalty trying to become private. Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son, Prince Edward, launched a TV production company that was later shut down. His wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, ran a public relations business, but was caught on tape making critical comments about Prince Charles.

More traumatic was the queen’s uncle, the Duke of Windsor, who abdicated as king in 1936 to marry a divorced American. To supplement his royal salary, the Duke of Windsor later sold his memoirs and appeared in several magazine interviews. He ended his days living in exile just south of Paris. Other extended family members also received money. The queen’s eldest nephew once launched an advertising campaign to sell milk in China.

Royal interviews that go wrong are also a basic element. The queen’s second son, Prince Andrew, had to give up a wrong interview in 2019, where he tried to explain his friendship with the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Royal observers questioned the wisdom of the interviews in which Prince Harry’s parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, spoke of their failed marriage.

Prince Harry said a major motivation for leaving the UK was to get rid of the media. Princess Diana died in a car accident in 1997 while being followed by paparazzi.

After Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018, the couple struggled with the level of intrusion into their private lives and the way the palace handled the British press, according to an official. In the US, they hope to find a more respectful media, according to someone familiar with their thinking.

Last week, the prince appeared on James Corden’s “The Late Late Show,” where he was interviewed on a two-story bus touring Los Angeles before crawling through the mud on a military assault course. Prince Harry reduced his decision to break up with the monarch. “It was a step back, rather than a step down,” he said. The prince said the British press was destroying his mental health. Leaving the country, “I did what any husband did [or] the father would do it, ”he said.

On the same day as the interview with Mrs. Winfrey, Queen Elizabeth will also be on the waves. The Queen and her immediate family, including her two heirs, Prince Charles and Prince William, will mark “Commonwealth Day” – celebrating a club of nations that were mostly in the British Empire – and pay tribute to the maneuver. pandemic by these countries. Buckingham Palace officials say the timing of the special program on British Broadcasting Corp. it is pure coincidence.

Write to Max Colchester at [email protected]

Corrections and amplifications
David McClure is the author of books on the finances of British royalty. An earlier version of this article misspelled his last name as McLure. (Corrected on March 7)