Meghan warned over ‘running out of royal currency’ as she picks California over Coronation | Royal | News
Meghan Markle set to miss King’s Coronation as Harry attends
Meghan Markle risks running out of her main “currency of significance” at the moment, a commentator has said. The Duchess of Sussex had a successful stint as an actress but her career in that field ended several years ago, reputation management and PR expert Edward Coram-James noted. At the moment, her royalty is what powers up her public image and fame, he claimed.
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However, she isn’t doing any “royal things” at the moment, which exposes her to the risk of losing her royalty status in the public court of opinion.
Analysing – merely from a public image point of view – Meghan’s decision not to attend the Coronation of King Charles, the co-founder of Go Up told Express.co.uk: “In the long run, I expect that the Duchess’ decision will be a negative for her.”
He also said: “Her sole currency of significance, at the moment, is her royalty. This may well change should she produce, star in or be significantly involved in any critically successful venture in the future, but for now it is the harsh reality. And royals are expected to do royal things.
“If Meghan continues to reject royal events, she risks running out of royal currency. And, if that happens, her relevance will drop as will her value to production houses and streaming platforms.”
Meghan and Prince Harry live in California (Image: Getty)
Prince Harry will attend the Coronation of King Charles without Meghan and their children (Image: Getty)
The Duchess of Sussex is known to have last been in the UK in September, when she made public appearances alongside Prince Harry and other royals to pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr Coram-James acknowledged Meghan reached fame in her own right years before meeting Prince Harry, but argued the spotlight on actors can quickly fade if they stop working.
He said: “Although she had a successful career as an actress, reputational clout for actors tends to be short-lived after completion of their most recent success, and her show Suits wrapped a number of years ago now.”
Referring to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s fresh career as content producers for Netflix, and in particular to their biographical six-episode documentary titled Harry & Meghan released in December 2022, the expert continued: “Her more recent and successful forays into filmmaking have been scandal-led, but scandal-based filmmaking does not tend to lead to sterling reputations within the filmmaking community and, although hers was of course a huge financial success, the major streaming platforms will understand that there is only limited scope and probably a smaller audience base for any similar documentaries in the future.”
Meghan was one of the main characted in the US legal drama Suits (Image: Getty)
Meghan’s career mapped (Image: EXPRESS)
While he doesn’t rule out that Meghan has the capability to make a name for herself in the filmmaking industry as a producer through her and Harry’s organisation, Archewell Productions, Mr Coram-James claimed she is “yet to prove herself”.
Harry & Meghan delved into the Sussexes’ whirlwind love story, sharing intimate details about how they met, their first dates and their life together.
But it also highlighted the pair’s struggles with the press and the Firm, and saw Meghan and Harry launching damaging allegations against the Royal Family and its members.
Harry accused his brother Prince William of screaming at him during a tense summit which took place in January 2020 focused on the Sussexes’ exit terms.
Meghan was last in the UK in September last year (Image: Getty)
He also suggested the Palace put his name on a statement without him knowing it to quash a story claiming the Sussexes had been bullied out of the Firm by the Prince of Wales.
The only other product released by Archewell Productions so far is Live to Lead, a docu-series for Netflix featuring interviews with inspirational leaders from around the world, including former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Archewell Productions was launched in late 2020 as part of the organisation Archewell, which also encompasses Archewell Audio and the non-profit Archewell Foundation.
It has another project known to be in the pipeline – a series focused on some of the participants in the 2020 Invictus Games. The series, titled Heart of Invictus, was announced in April 2021, but no release date has yet been announced.
The Sussexes released in December 2022 Harry & Meghan via Netflix (Image: Getty)
In February, a report claimed the pair were now looking to break into more light-hearted fiction material including rom-com.
Mr Coram-James said Meghan’s possible way forward could involve “keeping a low profile, reconciling with the Royal Family on terms acceptable to both parties, continuing and indeed doubling down on her many worthy causes and getting stuck into some serious, issues-based filmmaking, ideally focused on the issues that she champions”.
In mid-April, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex put an end to speculation regarding their attendance at the much-anticipated Coronation of the King and said only Prince Harry would travel across the Atlantic for the event, while Meghan would remain home with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Royal author Omid Scobie said the fact Archie turns four on the same day the Coronation is taking place “played a factor” in the Duchess’ decision.
