The Telegraph’s Victoria Ward did a very strange and obsessive article called “Why Meghan and Harry’s fightback starts now.” Fightback? Now? The crux of Ward’s argument is that three-and-a-half years after the Sussexit, Harry and Meghan are fine, they have built a life for themselves in California, and they’re heading to the Invictus Games where they will be widely photographed. The Windsors are already seething in advance of the Sussexes’ Invictus appearance, which is also part of this story, but Ward seemingly spoke to some people on Team Sussex too, so there are also some nicer quotes in this piece as well. Some highlights:
The Sussex reboot: “They are done with their former lives,” one source close to them insisted. “They’re not talking about family. There’s no expectation that the family’s going to show up or acknowledge it or that anybody wants to see him. It’s over.”
The importance of Invictus: One friend tried to encapsulate the complex emotions that it stirs. “Invictus is so important to him and is very much a part of his former life,” they said. “It shows there could have been a world in which a hybrid model could have worked. But it also shows that in his new world, and in his new life, he’s still capable of accomplishing the things that are so very important to him.” The Games is considered Harry’s “baby”, a project on which he has long thrived and in which he takes immense pride. “It will enable him to remind people who he is, but also show them who he plans to be,” another friend says. “He’s nervous, because he’s an empath. It’s also a huge undertaking. He’s also so excited and enthused.”
The “persistent (yet totally unfounded) rumours of trouble in their marriage”: “They are just fine,” one exasperated aide says with an almost audible eye-roll. “They are in a good place and living as normal a life as they have ever done.”
Separate projects: Both have completely separate projects in the pipeline, which sources are again at pains to point out does not mean they are separating. Instead, The Telegraph is told, they will reflect their differing professional interests and talents and are the result of significant thought about their future direction and careers. “If you introduce a couple together and the world knows them together, and then they find themselves in a situation where they need to find their own projects and their own identity, there is going to be a lot of speculation,” one source acknowledges. “But on top of being a couple, they are both working on their own things. They are fully supportive of each other’s concepts and ideas, but they are different from one another, they have different meanings. Everybody understands that they’re not just going to stand still.”
Meghan’s new project: Meghan is preparing to launch a major new commercial venture. There has been much speculation that it will be a version of Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s multimillion-dollar lifestyle business, which few could deny would be right up her street. It’s not Goop – but it is something that is “genuine to who she is”. Her imminent return to Instagram is surely connected. Having amassed more than 110,000 followers (including Mandana Dayani, former president of Archewell, and Kadi Lee, her hair colourist) without making a single post, she has already proved her pulling power. Sources close to Meghan insisted that she had no plans to revive The Tig, the successful lifestyle blog that she shut down after meeting Harry. She is not even thought to be aware of applications to renew the patent, which aides say are merely a formality to keep control of the brand.
Their Netflix deal is fine: Their Netflix projects rumble along in the background, albeit largely stalled due to the Hollywood writers’ strike. Although concerns have been raised that their multimillion-dollar deal is teetering on the brink, industry sources insist that is not the case. Much has been made of the fact that the streaming giant has stumped up a reputed £3 million for the film rights to Carley Fortune’s Meet Me at the Lake, a romantic novel that will be produced by the Sussexes’ Archewell Productions. As part of the next phase of the deal, Harry is also hoping to return to Africa for a new documentary, although proposals are in their early stages.Harry comments in Heart of Invictus: Fuelled by years of therapy, the Duke had hoped that by laying his cards on the table he would provoke a reaction, laying the foundations for reconciliation. Those phone calls, that apology, never came and it is now time to move on. The Sussexes have long generated talk of new chapters. Now though, almost four years after they announced they were leaving the UK, they are finally settling into something resembling stability. The Games will mark the beginning of a new era as they move away from the royal bashing to focus on their soon-to-be-unveiled future careers.
[From The Telegraph]
The obsession with Harry and Meghan continues to be off the charts in Britain’s media, despite that media’s claims that H&M are unimportant or marginalized figures on the fringe of society. The thing which caught my eye was Ward’s documentation of two adults who are married and thriving yet work on separate projects. Like… why is that some kind of indicator of marriage trouble? Why is it noteworthy in the least? “Meghan is working on something separate from her husband, call the divorce lawyers!” This is also kind of interesting: “It shows there could have been a world in which a hybrid model could have worked.” There’s a bittersweet truth to that, and much of the media and royal rancor towards the Sussexes is rooted in that very truth: that Harry and Meghan offered them a solution which would have worked well for everyone, but the Windsors were too stupid, petty, vindictive and sadistic to realize it.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Archewell.
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