So what WILL Meghan’s next move be?
The Daily Mail
Meghan Markle has been in hiding for months as Prince Harry promotes Spare but she is set to make a very public comeback just days after the Coronation with new TV projects plus The Tig 2.0 also said to be in the pipeline, MailOnline can reveal today.
The Duchess of Sussex has only been seen four times in public since the launch of the Sussexes’ Netflix series in December as experts claimed she has kept her head down to avoid flak sparked by her husband’s royal-trashing memoir.
Brand experts told MailOnline today that Meghan would be wise not to announce any new ventures until after May 6, or face more accusations of using her royal links to make piles of cash without actively supporting the King or the institution itself.
An opportune time will come ten days after the Coronation, when she is in New York on May 16 as a guest of honour at the annual ‘Women of Vision Awards’, where she will be described as ‘one of the most powerful and influential women in the world’ and collect an award for being a ‘feminist, champion of human rights and gender equity, and global role model’.
Her decision not to be in London next month to see her father-in-law crowned King will allow her to celebrate Archie’s fourth birthday with her mother Doria and friends – but it will also give her time to plot her next move in TV, books and podcasting, insiders claim.
One source told The Telegraph that Archewell, the Sussexes’ broadcasting business, is looking to hire writers to create ‘feel-good’ shows including romantic comedies for Netflix. She is also looking increasingly likely to relaunch her blog, The Tig, having seen how Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop lifestyle website has made the actress £200million or more.
Meghan was reportedly very upset by a merciless episode of South Park, which was dedicated to lampooning the couple with a fictitious ‘Worldwide Privacy Tour’ while plugging a memoir. Perhaps the most brutal moment came when the Prince opened his wife’s mouth to look inside and found nothing – an unkind reference to her being an empty vessel.
PR guru Mark Borkowski said that Meghan’s next move is crucial, because Spare and her husband’s ‘truths’ in the media blitz that followed had damaged his brand and tarnished her reputation too as millions believe Harry ‘went too far’.
He said: ‘She’s kept her head down for some time. I suspect this is due to the noise that accompanied Spare, it created debate and a huge amount of coverage. I don’t think it played well in America, especially with their fundraisers.
‘The Royal Family refused to comment so it became one sided whinging and a visceral story of his life that didn’t resonate well. And they were both challenged by that because they are on a constant mission to raise money and generate coverage to help her brand.
‘There is nothing for her to gain from disrupting the King’s big day. She needs to stand back. In the PR game it is choosing your battles and the strategy will be to get past the coronation.
‘The fact that she is not there is a statement that the UK does not particularly engage with her and looks like: “Poor me”.’
With multi-million pound bills to pay, Meghan may also look for a second series of her Spotify podcast, Archetypes, while the couple could front more shows for Netflix, who signed them up for a reported $100m in 2020.
Friends of Meghan have claimed that her low profile in recent months has been to support her husband as he released Spare and put their children first – the opposite of what Harry claimed his childhood in Britain was like.
The Tig ran from 2014 to 2017 – at the height of her Suits fame – and featured everything from New Year’s resolutions to diet tips and fashion finds. She also explored feminist topics and shared musings from her childhood and career before she got her big break. If she were to relaunch it, she is now much more famous and would be unshackled by any constraints of being a working royal.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline Meghan is in the process of separating herself from the royals, for her own benefit, while her husband maintains his connections by heading to London May 6.
He said: ‘I think once the Coronation is over and the eyes of the world are off the king and Prince Harry then Meghan will launch a new initiative. I suspect she will have been working on some new projects that will enable her to stand alone rather than use Prince Harry.
‘I would advise her to let the coronation pass and then launch new projects that will make money and allow her to put a real stake in the ground and establish her properly as a worldwide celebrity. She needs to wait a bit! Otherwise it will damage her. I think she is most likely to announce a wellness space like the Tig or a new documentary series’.
Mark Borkowski said that Meghan has difficult decisions to make as their popularity in the US has tumbled.
He said: ‘There will definitely be a relaunch by Meghan. It is impossible for them to stay quiet. They need the royal pomp and ceremony. They could end up becoming an entity like Edward and Mrs Simpson. Forlorn royals with no connection to the family being in exile. There are parallels there.
‘They will be very quick to regenerate interest. But it is going to be more and more and difficult. For many Spare was a set of stories that went too far’.
The Tig was, in her own words, her ‘passion project’. The brand is still owned by the Duchess’s Delaware-based company Frim Fram.
And even though Meghan closed her old blog in 2017 to minimise public scrutiny ahead of marrying into the royal family, she has retained the rights. There have been an increasing number of reports that Meghan will imminently revive it.
Boasting tips on fashion, health and wellness, she may hope the website could rival Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website, which is reportedly worth £200million.
Meghan founded The Tig while starring in legal drama Suits, naming it after her favourite red wine, a £135 to £215-a-bottle Tignanello from Tuscany.
The blog featured her tips on food, wellness, fashion, travel, fashion, the arts, design, and ‘conscious living’.
And, in the Sussexes’ recent Netflix series, Meghan gushed about it saying: ‘It wasn’t just a hobby, it became a really successful business’.
She said: ‘I’ve never really been the type of person to do only one thing, I guess that’s how my website was born.
‘There was fashion, tons of food, and travel – all the things that I loved. The Tig wasn’t just a hobby, it became a really successful business.’