RICHARD EDEN: Meghan and Harry seem to be splitting their business interests. I have a very intriguing theory why…

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to California to seek their fortune, their cheerleaders claimed they would become a new power couple, like George and Amal Clooney, who attended their wedding, but with an added royal mystique. Comparisons were even drawn with former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, whose hugely lucrative venture into books and podcasts they hoped to emulate.

This week we’ve seen that dream shattered, with Prince Harry and Meghan going in different directions when it comes to their careers. It’s a new strategy – but to explain why they felt the need to embrace it, we have to go back to the moment they arrived in America.

The Sussexes’ ambition to harness their strengths as a couple quickly became apparent after they landed in Los Angeles in 2020 on what Harry described as a “freedom flight” from Canada during the Covid pandemic.

Living in a mansion they had generously borrowed from American TV star Tyler Perry – who Harry admitted he did not know – the couple began planning how they would establish themselves as a new force in the US.

They founded Archewell, a mix of for-profit and nonprofit organizations registered in tax-friendly Delaware, which they hoped would give them the same status that former U.S. presidents, including Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, have derived from foundations. she had settled.

Then came the crucial matter of cashing in on their royal connections as a couple, which they did by signing multi-million dollar deals with media giants Netflix and Spotify.

To make it clear that audio giant Spotify had signed them up as a duo, Harry and Meghan both appeared in the pilot episode of their podcast. A series of celebrity guests, including Sir Elton John, James Corden and Tyler Perry, were recruited in a bid to show they could attract big names.

Three months later, they sat down for their explosive television interview with their Santa Barbara neighbor, Oprah Winfrey. Following Meghan’s claims in the interview that the future Princess of Wales had made her cry, and her accusations of racism among anonymous Windsor seniors, the couch chat caused a devastating rift with the royal family. It also alienated millions of people who had previously been sympathetic to Harry and Meghan.

The negative reaction to the interview was perhaps the turning point, as doubts began to surface about the wisdom of their “power couple” strategy. However, they had signed a deal with Netflix for a reported $100 million, so they went ahead with their tawdry “docuseries” or reality show, Harry & Meghan, which aired the following year.

By the time their first series of podcasts was released on Spotify that same year, poor Harry’s voice had been silenced. Instead, the series’ 12 episodes, Archetypes, were hosted exclusively by Meghan.

The former actress apparently decided she deserved top billing, but it did her a world of good.

Living in a mansion borrowed from American TV star Tyler Perry, the two began to plot how to establish themselves as a new force in the US.

The series turned out to be their first and last for Spotify, with the company announcing in 2023 that it had terminated their deal. To make matters worse, Spotify CEO Bill Simmons described the couple as “f***ing grifters” and mocked Harry’s attempts to suggest podcast ideas.

Meghan’s solo series set the pattern for their future careers, leaving Harry to promote his memoirs alone, while the book further antagonized the royals and their admirers around the world.

Their upcoming projects for Netflix are different: Meghan has filmed a cooking and lifestyle show, which is expected to air next year, while Harry has created a show about polo, his favorite sport.

This week, Harry was alone in New York, doing charity work for his late mother, Princess Diana, a work Meghan is said to have enjoyed in the past.

What is most striking is that the Duke looks much more relaxed than during his previous appearance in the city with his wife, a visit that ended in disaster, with claims of a “high-speed chase” with paparazzi denied by police.

Harry’s smile is a contrast to the frown he often appeared to wear when he visited Colombia with Meghan last month.

According to a source in California, Meghan has decided that their interests are best served by pursuing separate careers.

“They will still do charity work together and go on foreign trips, but their work projects will remain separate,” the source tells me.

Perhaps Meghan has decided that she is the star attraction when it comes to show business. That would free Harry to continue trying to heal the rifts with his family during visits home that are likely to become more frequent and longer.

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