The royal mess that is currently happening over in England continues to unspool as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have left the UK to North America. The couple and now bounce between Vancouver, Canada and Los Angeles.
The former royal couple, now just regular folk according to their grandmother, the Queen of England, may not be able to use the word “Royal” in their branding, according to UK news sources.
The Daily Mail reported this morning that the couple is out of the “royal” branding game, amidst their North American resettlement and exploration of lucrative speaking engagements, licensing deals, and other opportunities to parlay their worldwide fame.
The report says they are restricted as to how they can market themselves to a worldwide audience after leaving their family and home country behind — at least in Harry’s case.
Team Harry and Meghan, who are they?
“Team Harry and Meghan” are Americans, for the most part.
There is a lot of scuttle and gnashing of teeth and knives in the more conservation traditionalist side of things, notably with conservatives like Good Morning Britain’s Piers Morgan and journalist Katie Hopkins.
Both of these people use their considerable following on social media to take patently snarky potshots at the divorced American woman, estranged from her own family, who stole their beloved Harry from the Buckingham fold.
In Canada, the welcome is far warmer for the couple who broke with traditions and created a vast gulf between the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ two sons. Many in these circles fell in love with Harry and Meghan’s love story, subsequent marriage, and now baby Archie.
But the staunch royalists back home? Not so much.
The use of Sussex Royal
The plan was to use the name Sussex Royal, which the couple locked down on social media and in a legal protocol for use in a variety of applications, mostly to brand and license items to ostensibly sell through their channels.
Not all Americans or US-based media is pro Harry and Meghan. In the Atlantic magazine, writer Tom McTague opined that the couple is trying to have their cake and eat it too.
The biggest fly in the ointment is Buckingham and Kensington Palaces, and Harry’s grandmother, the Queen, who has the final say.
The Daily Mail contends that behind the scenes, that name is nixed, and they claim that the couple’s new working arrangement “will not be able to use the Sussex Royal name as they had hoped.”
Now with that news comes a massive rebranding, at great expense, for the couple who felt the need to leave the UK.
The Mail reports the two must re-register “everything from their website to their charity under a new label.”
Harry and Meghan’s Sussexes’ Instagram page, @sussexroyal, has amassed millions of followers and is at about the same number as brother William and Kate’s account.
It was a natural progression for sought-after Harry and Meghan to use the moniker for their new charitable foundation under the Sussex Royal title. It was going to be the second act for the couple who have seen nothing but trouble since they said: “I do.”
But their best-laid plans are coming to a halt rather quickly, despite the clamoring for brands and the rich and famous to envelop the massively famous couple into their orbits.
Fame, especially in the west, is currency. Harry and Meghan appeared to grasp that power and seemingly had planned to use it to elevate their charity work as well as amass their own fortune.
Now they are off the royal payroll, although Harry does get a nice check from dad every year.
The website, for now, still opens with the opening screen: “Welcome to the Sussex Royal community, your source for information on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
What are people saying?
It depends on who you ask.
Piers Morgan praises Wills and Kate for taking on the duties that Harry and Meghan 'abandoned' https://t.co/PH34QIoKkW
— Helen Ann (@HelenAnn16) February 19, 2020
I am glad that Queen Elizabeth is giving Harry and Meghan their just payback. They renounced full “boring” royalty duties and privileges in order to trade it for more worldly life, they should not profit from royalty at all.
— Sergio Balcazar, MD (@SergioBalcaza15) February 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1228268196056174594
Harry and Meghan may have to kiss the 'royal' branding goodbye https://t.co/rfoSUwqNRn
— The Vancouver Sun (@VancouverSun) February 19, 2020
The Queen loves Harry and Meghan…but she has to stand firm https://t.co/uGophtwNhV @MailOnline
— Grumpy UK (@gikers48) February 19, 2020
Elizabeth is a petty old queen. It’s become increasingly clear why Meghan & Harry needed to remove themselves from this toxic environment. To tell your grandson he’s not royal when his father is the future King of England?? Petty af! #sussexroyal #megxit https://t.co/qALjGR58GG
— Alexander J. Chenault, MS.Ed, JD (@YesJustAl) February 19, 2020
On what planet did #HarryandMeghan think they could disengage themselves from the #RoyalFamily– and still profit hugely from a nonexistent association?They're reaching, those two opportunists. This will not end well for them.#TheFormidableQueenHasSpoken
— OhSusannah63 (@OhSusannah25) February 19, 2020
What the future holds for Harry and Meghan remains to be seen.