Harry and Meghan’s ‘surprise’ Megxit from The Firm was a ‘blow’ to the royals, authors have claimed. Despite King Charles and Queen Elizabeth II’s ‘desperation’ to keep the Sussexes ‘happy’, they suddenly left.
Prince Harry and his wife left the royal family and moved to California in the US, over two years after they married at Windsor Castle. However, it’s been claimed the bombshell move was as big of a surprise to Meghan Markle’s in-laws as it was to the public, and “for all intents and purposes” it was the couple “quitting.” They even compared it to when Queen Elizabeth’s uncle, King Edward VII abdicated in December 1936.
Harry and Meghan’s Megxit came ‘without warning’
The royals posted to their social media account, SussexRoyal, one morning in January 2020. The duo explained they were stepping down from their roles as senior royals. There was, however, no warning to The Firm of this being posted or happening, claim Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett in their book Royals At War.
“It was nothing less than a body blow to the establishment, when, on the morning of January 8, 2020, Harry and Meghan’s @sussexroyal media channels issued a statement, without any prior warning or alert to the rest of the family,” they wrote.
This is despite “the desperation” of the Queen and King Charles to “keep Harry happy and Meghan satisfied.” The authors say Harry and Meghan were also in talks with The Firm about their roles and responsibilities.
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They called the statement “bland PR speak” and compared it to Harry’s great-granduncle, Edward VIII who abdicated to marry and live out the rest of his days in France with the woman he loved, a divorcee named Wallace Simpson
What did Harry and Meghan say when they left the royal family?
They shared a navy blue image with their thanks to the “community” they had built on their social media profiles ahead of Megxit – what the press called Harry and Meghan’s decision – including Instagram. The lengthy caption explained their decision to leave the royal family. They spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic which was then at its peak in other areas of the world. They told followers their work would continue, even if “you may not see us here.”
“As we all find the part we are to play in this global shift and changing of habits,” the parents of two penned.
“We are focusing this new chapter to understand how we can best contribute. While you may not see us here, the work continues.
“Thank you to this community – for the support, the inspiration, and the shared commitment to the good in the world. We look forward to reconnecting with you soon. You’ve been great!
“Until then, please take good care of yourselves, and of one another. Harry and Meghan.”
Docuseries ranking could affect Meghan and Harry
Harry and Meghan signed up to many deals after Megxit, from podcasts to streaming giant Netflix. However, there’s been some development in these since their announcement.
Netflix recently revealed a list of the most streamed shows and films on its platform for 2023, and it doesn’t look great for Meghan and Harry. Despite their various endeavors after Megxit, including one with Spotify, it ranked at 211, lower than two children’s TV shows, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol.
Kinsey Schofield appeared on Talk TV to discuss the shocking place in which the limited series had landed itself. The royal correspondent said it could affect the couple’s future careers and would “hot Harry and Meghan hard.”
“I think that this is going to hit Harry and Meghan because Netflix has typically kept their numbers secret,” she said.
“However, they did market this particular documentary as a success for the Netflix brand. It created new opportunities elsewhere for Harry and Meghan. Just the line that Netflix gave, that this was ‘the most successful docuseries ever,’ very vague on their numbers.
“But to see that it ranked below 200 in Netflix all around streaming numbers, you know, I think that it’s going to hit Harry and Meghan pretty hard for future opportunities.”
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