The British papers just can’t let go of their Sussex obsession, so we’re getting “end of year” summaries of Prince Harry and Meghan’s ups and downs in 2023, with an overemphasis on sh-t like “South Park” and the Hollywood Reporter’s recent nastiness. The same emphasis is not given to Spare selling millions of copies, nor another successful Invictus Games, nor Harry winning his lawsuit against the Mirror. Well, here’s some sh-t from Hannah Furness at the Telegraph, from a piece called “Can the Sussexes really make a comeback?” Why is it any of the Telegraph’s business what two people do in California? They really refuse to ask themselves that question.
Meghan’s recent appearance at the Variety event: “Is that what this was all for?” one former palace source said incredulously at the time. “All this drama, leaving the Royal family for a life of service, just to be back on the showbiz circuit again?”
Omid Scobie’s Endgame: Widely considered as a Sussex sympathiser, despite regularly defending himself against accusations of being “Meghan’s mouthpiece”, Scobie’s account echoed much of what Harry and Meghan said in their own interviews but went further to heavily criticise their British family. Prince William was painted as jealous and angry, the Princess of Wales as a cold “Stepford-like” wife, and the King incompetent. No amount of denials about collaboration could separate the Sussexes from the book in the public imagination. “The credibility of the Sussexes now seems somehow linked to the credibility of Omid Scobie,” said one observer. “The more ridiculous the book seems, the more biased it sounds, the more fuss there is about who said what in which translation, the less people will believe the claims in it.”
No one believes the royals are racist, huh? Even the most powerful accusations, including the accidental naming of members of the Royal family with “unconscious bias”, will not work in the Sussexes’ favour, another expert believes. “It takes away the power of their own story,” he says. “If and when they want to talk about it themselves, the public will feel they’ve heard it all before.”
The business fizzle: Shortly after the Hollywood Reporter pronouncement, Forbes, the respected US business magazine, called the Sussexes a “compelling case study for Harvard Business School on the ultimate brand buzz failure”. A columnist advised readers on how to “avoid Harry and Meghan’s all buzz and no buyers strategy when building a brand”. A second article urged the Prince to stop focusing on a “fading career as a bon vivant philanthropist and B-list celebrity”, and choose not to “continue pursuing an increasingly pointless life of serving as an irrelevant hood ornament for good causes”.
The Telegraph also cited the recent People Mag story about the Sussexes going for a “total system reboot.” Y’all know my thoughts on all of this, as I’ve said many times this year: the Sussexes have had some big wins but they have legitimately had some tough moments and sh-tty newscycles. Their biggest problem is a terrible communications strategy. They’ve f–ked up their communications and messaging repeatedly, and I hope their “system reboot” addresses that. The Spotify story would not have been half as bad if they had gone on the record when the contract ended AND clapped back at Bill Simmons. This wasn’t some unhinged royal reporter – this was a Spotify executive and it was about their business. They also made significant mistakes in how they communicated what happened with the paparazzi chase in New York. As for the Scobie stuff – it’s hilarious that the one time Harry & Meghan refuse to complain or explain, that’s when the British media demands that they speak up.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.
London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attends the Royal Courts of Justice as the lawsuit against Associated Newspapers enters its final day on March 30, 2023 in London, England. Prince Harry is one of several claimants in a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail. Pictured: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex BACKGRID USA 30 MARCH 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* 
New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* 
New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* 
New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* 
New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince HARRY, Duke of Sussex, arrives at the Rolls Building of the High Court in London, to testify against Mirror Group Newspapers, in phone-hacking case. Pictured: 20230606_zip_k172_001.jpg BACKGRID USA 6 JUNE 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* 
Vancouver, CANADA – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the Vancouver Canucks hockey game in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Harry did the ceremonial puck drop and then the pair watched the contest from the owners box. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 21 NOVEMBER 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcWxpboV5e9OhnJislaGyqL7AqZ%2BYr5%2Bjsaa%2B0piamqaPqbWmq9KuqqydqJrAoL7EmqOlsY%2BirqyxvpqWnKedmq%2Bir8po