I never had much cause to use the word ‘bamboozled’ before I started writing about the royal family. Or ‘befuddled’. Or ‘gobsmacked’.
Yet they have all been sorely needed and used thanks to a toadyish Prince Andrew, hoist on the petard of his ego and freebie holidays with a pedophile. Thanks to a duke and his duchess who decided they preferred to make light infotainment than having to suit up and take the late Queen’s shilling. And thanks to a king and a princess being struck with cancer at nearly the exact moment.
And today? Let’s go for ‘disoriented’ with a strong side note of slightly dizzy.
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have just wrapped their first overseas tour in the four-plus years since the cymbal clash of Megxit – and the deja vu is pretty much blinding.
The last time the duke and duchess jetted off to gladhand a foreign nation it was September 2019, when they travelled to South Africa. It was a make-or-break-oh-jeez-so-much-is-on-the-line moment.
We saw the couple surrounded by adoring schoolchildren, the duchess flew the flag for women’s empowerment, there was dancing, there was a nod to Diana, Princess of Wales through Meghan’s jewellery, and Harry spent time supporting people scared by conflict.
And this time? Late last week the duke and duchess flew to Nigeria. It was a make-or-break-oh-jeez-so-much-is-on-the-line moment.
We saw the couple surrounded by adoring schoolchildren, the duchess flew the flag for women’s empowerment, there was dancing, there was a nod to Diana, Princess of Wales through Meghan’s jewellery, and Harry spent time supporting people scared by conflict.
Errrr …. quite what year is it?
Look at images of the Sussexes three-day tour of the West African nation from last week and it is a discombobulating (there’s another word) experience, with the main beats looking eerily like that of their 2019 South African one. Take a look at the striking visual similarity.
For example, the photos of Harry and Meghan on the floor while visiting a mosque in Cape Town in 2019 and then the shots of them in Abuja last week.
Or take the myriad shots of the crowds of adoring children who flocked to the beaming couple in 2019. And the crowds of adoring children who flocked to the beaming couple in 2024.
And then there are their two programs, conducted nearly five years apart.
Back then, Meghan met with women entrepreneurs and technology investors and attended a “Women in Public Service” breakfast. Last week, Meghan spoke at a Women in Leadership event co-hosted with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.
In South Africa Meghan claimed kinship in a powerful speech, saying “I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour, and as your sister.”
In Nigeria, Meghan referenced “this country … my country.” (In her 2022 podcast Archetypes the duchess revealed that a genealogy test had revealed she was 43 per cent Nigerian.)
In 2019, Harry travelled to Huambo in Angola and spent time with those wounded by landmines and amputees. In 2024, Harry visited a military amputee hospital.
In 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met with the British High Commissioner. In 2024, they met with the Governor of Lagos State.
So what are we to make of this? Why might their first post-palace overseas sortie have looked so much like their last international role of the dice as full time HRHs?
First off the bat, this is about commitment.
What the duke and duchess’ Nigeria schedule shows is that the duo, despite having changed countries, jobs, allegiances, continents, time zones and religions (from Church of England to the Gospel of Oprah) they have remained steadfast and true to their primary causes.
Harry has long championed veterans and the military community and focused on the power of sport to heal; women’s empowerment has long been Meghan’s bailiwick.
But second up we get to the less cheer-worthy part. I wonder, do Harry and Meghan have any idea how to do post-royal work that does not look quite so, um, royal?
Since huffing off into the sunset to make it in the US in 2020, as the duke and duchess have carved out hit-and-miss book, TV and podcasting careers, they have also valiantly fought to work out how to be public figures under their own aegis, banner and steam.
So far it has not been a battle they seem to be out and out winning.
The 2022 accounts for their Archewell Foundation showed they pulled in just over $3 million in donations (down from $19.6 million in their debut year). This is a far cry from the $19.9 million that William and Kate’s Royal Foundation (of which the Sussexes were formerly half owners) made in the same year.
(This month California’s lawyer general issued a “delinquency notice” to Archewell for not having filed its most recent tax return. According to The Telegraph, the documents were filed on time but a posted cheque got lost en route and it has now been sorted.)
Even if Harry and Meghan don’t have to worry about how to foot the bill for their good works, there is the actual doing part.
Giving speeches, shaking hands, going to a charity fundraising event here and there, recording the occasional video, and posting regularly about good works via their own channels: This has been, for years, the cornerstone of the professional royaling done by King Charles, Queen Camilla and Prince William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales – and pretty much exactly what the Sussexes are still doing even though they are in the US.
The couple, having left the royal family back in 2020 because they wanted to be free agents and to be able to follow their own unhampered, bold and authentic star, charity-wise that star looks remarkably similar to the one that still hangs over Buckingham Palace.
The Sussexes’ attempts at off-piste, more adventurous do-gooding have not exactly met with roaring success. Meghan’s 40×40 mentoring initiative from 2021 all but vanished overnight and it is now nearly two years since, during a Vogue conversation with Gloria Steinem, the duchess told the feminist icon, “it seems as though you and I will be taking a trip to D.C. together soon.” No trip has yet occurred.
The Sussexes have also struggled to match the scale or reach of the work they did under the royal umbrella.
I’m not suggesting it’s a matter of the couple’s will or interest but, now that they are working freelance, they have struggled to quite find a new vision or MO. Meanwhile, they have had to face much slimmer budgets and do all this without the bureaucratic and covering might of the monarchy behind them.
There is one more congruence between the Sussexes’ 2019 tour and their 2024 one – the Duchess of Sussex has again proven she is the absolute and utter Queen of the tour wardrobe. And in case you are wondering, thanks to the Telegraph, we know that “Camp Sussex is keen to make clear that Meghan styles herself”. Noted.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles