Which, if you\u2019ve been paying attention, is exactly what Queen Elizabeth tried to prevent. <\/p>\n
Last week, Australia provided the laboratory-safe conditions and the testing ground for the Sussexes\u2019 new caring-meets-cold-hard-commerce master plan and it worked a treat. <\/p>\n
Crowds turned up and cheered<\/a>, hordes selfied, sick kids were visited, veterans hailed, hugs energetically dispensed, TV cameras filmed, businesses wrote them cheques to sit on artfully arranged chairs on stages and to say lines they have been wheeling out for years (yeah, yeah, pot kettle) and shoppers shopped Meghan\u2019s looks. <\/p>\n In four days, the Sussexes came, they saw, they conquered and they sold or as Julius Caesar might have said if he had understood \u2018add to cart\u2019 \u2013 Veni, vidi, vici, vendere. <\/p>\n This was the biggest Sussex plot twist in years, finally debuting the duty and dollars, philanthropy and payola, on and off version of royalty they had unsuccessfully pitched to the late Queen and then Prince Charles back in 2020. <\/p>\n Since their royal divorce, the duke and duchess have undertaken Option A, DIY royal \u2018tours\u2019 to places like Nigeria and Colombia and Option B, any number of commercial enterprises (jams, podcasts, doomed reality TV shows about horsey sport, being paid to speak at real estate conferences) but never the twain had met. <\/p>\n Until their Australian tour. <\/p>\n During their time on our shores, they married both, and so welcome to Option C, which is a \u2018non-royal tour\u2019 tour in which the duke and duchess can channel change between charity outings and money-making. <\/p>\n Reports now suggest this was just a dry run for them to unveil this Option C \u201cblueprint\u201d in the UK in July about, you guessed it, the 10th of the month (I reckon Lady Jane and her deep seated ambivalence about Crown Inc would have been quite the Sussex-stan.)<\/p>\n The couple\u2019s Australian outing saw them flip between wholly capital \u2018R\u2019 royal notes \u2013 sick kids, animals, a photo op at the Opera House \u2013 and some very contemporary Philip Glass notes like Meghan being paid to speak to a \u201cGirls weekend\u201d retreat and deciding it was just the moment to hard launch her ties with an AI celebrity shopping app. <\/p>\n The view inside the Sussex camp, according to the Telegraph<\/a>\u2019s Victoria Ward, was that the this new mashup worked a charm and their time here \u201cwill now form a blueprint for future tours\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve tested the playbook, it worked,\u201d a source close to the Sussexes told Ward. \u201cThis could absolutely act as a blueprint for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n A source close to the Sussexes told news.com.au\u2019s Bronte Coy, who spent four days travelling with the couple, that it \u201ccouldn\u2019t have gone better<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n And so we look to July when Harry will be back in Britain for \u2018one year to go\u2019 events ahead of the 2027 Birmingham Invictus Games. The million dollar question is, will Meghan and their kids Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet be there too? <\/p>\n And if the Duchess of Sussex does step foot back on UK soil, will it be to roll out her As Ever brand of lifestyle-y things like fruit spreads, candles and vino? (Expert reviews of her products have generally been glowing.)<\/p>\n Even if the UK remains flower sprinkle-free, her newly announced involvement with a celebrity powered AI shopping app, which allows her to earn a cut of sales from clothing she wears, means any trip back to the UK could mean she passively earns money while undertaking charity outings. <\/p>\n And Buckingham Palace? They are already having what sounds like a tizz about it. <\/p>\n The Sussexes\u2019 Australian tour has \u201craised alarm in royal circles\u201d, according to the Telegraph<\/a>\u2019s Camilla Tominey. She wrote \u201c the commercialisation of the Duchess\u2019s wardrobe has \u2018caused considerable concern\u2019 behind palace gates.\u201d<\/p>\n A royal source told Tominey: \u201cBy making money while doing \u2018philanthropic\u2019 work, they very much appear to be having their cake and eating it.\u201d<\/p>\n Another insider has said: \u201cCarrying out a faux royal visit to a children\u2019s hospital while flogging your outfits online appears to have crossed a line.\u201d<\/p>\n The line in question is one that the late Queen, who would have turned 100 years old on Tuesday, worked hard to safeguard. When the Sussexes announced in 2020 they were Megxiting, they proposed the famed half-in, half-out model to which Her late Majesty said a very firm, nein danke.<\/p>\n Her position: A bit like how an ambassador wouldn\u2019t simultaneously be allowed to launch a cake-making side hustle, her family members who repped the Crown couldn\u2019t simultaneously set out an \u2018open for business\u2019 shingle. <\/p>\n However, when the Sussexes arrived in Australia, they just did it anyway. <\/p>\n Because this was exactly what the late Queen reportedly didn\u2019t want \u2013 the swizzling about and mixing up philanthropy and personal moneymaking. <\/p>\n The counter argument here goes, well, the Sussexes have to support themselves somehow and they genuinely care and want to undertake public service. One does not negate the other. Two things can be true at once. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is how life is for 99.99 per cent of the world,\u201d one source told the Telegraph\u2019s Ward. \u201cThey have got to work to make a living, they have to pay the electricity bill just like everyone else. They are not funded by the taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n (Also, fees from speaking events, aides insisted to Ward, \u201callowed the couple to break even, funding the cost of their nine-strong team to fly to Australia, their accommodation and security.\u201d)<\/p>\n The appeal of the couple\u2019s halfer plan is that it allows both the duke and duchess to do what they do best. <\/p>\n Harry can focus on supporting veterans and telling anyone who will listen how top drawer a good spot of therapy can be (too right.) <\/p>\n And Meghan can lean into her entrepreneurial ambitions, whether that means monetising her incredible taste or taking her $16 pots of fruit spread to Blighty one day too.<\/p>\n Thus to July our eyes must turn. Harry will be in the UK for Invictus 2027 warm up events and, depending on the outcome of the review of the Sussexes\u2019 security arrangements currently being conducted by Ravec (the committee that oversees VIP and royal protection), Meghan and the kids could be there too. <\/p>\n The Royalist<\/a>\u2019s Tom Sykes has said that he has heard they could be in the UK \u201cfor over a week\u201d, the longest stretch they, as a family, would have spent in Britain since Megxit. (Harry and Meghan inadvertently ended up spending two weeks in the UK in 2022 after the Queen died while their children were back in California.)<\/p>\n Already, Harry is reportedly hoping King Charles might invite them for a nice holiday to Sandringham, letting it be known to The Times that he hoped his dear Pa might invite the Sussex family to stay. Since then, there have been no reports of any embossed invitations arriving in Montecito. That said, His Majesty does seem to be, of all the members of the royal family, the only one actively trying to do some fence-mending with his son, so consider this one too early to call.<\/p>\n At least things have improved when it comes to how the royal family handles disputes \u2013 after only nine days as Queen, Lady Jane Grey was shoved off the throne by her cousin Queen Mary I, who later had her beheaded on Tower Green. An icy Camilla on the Sandringham front steps would be nothing by comparison. <\/p>\n Daniela Elser is an editor and writer with more than 15 years experience working with Australia\u2019s leading media titles. <\/p>\n Read related topics:Meghan Markle<\/a>Queen Elizabeth II<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is it about July 10 and not-quite-royalty? On that day in 1554, a 17-year-old Lady Jane Grey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1911,15867,3760,162267,972,18126,22611,190684,190689,183424,29064,190706,190705,4670,190714,458,190716,190704,3876,4646,190685,190691,190708,190688,146,63,2257,190702,18542,190709,2226,190711,162381,190719,916,190686,190687,47385,85,756,46,190712,190707,2054,190698,190692,130969,12909,2051,18330,190722,20435,190715,16729,2819,162388,27745,92875,190703,190697,190713,179473,41378,190718,190696,7537,190701,190690,190699,190717,190700,178534,190693,2460,99630,4657,159632,25436,113093,4031,166114,190720,49609,190710,190694,190723,1299,27240,1135,190695,190721,27746],"class_list":{"0":"post-403024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-agence-france-presse","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-archie","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-australian-government","15":"tag-australian-outing","16":"tag-australian-tour","17":"tag-australian-trip","18":"tag-bondi-beach","19":"tag-bronte-coy","20":"tag-cake-making-side-hustle","21":"tag-california","22":"tag-caring-meets-cold-hard-commerce-master-plan","23":"tag-celebrities","24":"tag-ceremonial-trumpeters","25":"tag-charity-outings","26":"tag-charles","27":"tag-colombia","28":"tag-commercial-enterprises","29":"tag-daniel-leal","30":"tag-dollar-question","31":"tag-electricity-bill","32":"tag-entertainment","33":"tag-europe","34":"tag-facebook","35":"tag-family-handles-disputes","36":"tag-family-members","37":"tag-flower-sprinkle-free","38":"tag-france","39":"tag-fruit-spread","40":"tag-getty-images-inc","41":"tag-girls-weekend","42":"tag-greece","43":"tag-half-out-plan","44":"tag-halfer-plan","45":"tag-hamish","46":"tag-il","47":"tag-inc","48":"tag-israel","49":"tag-jane-grey","50":"tag-julius-caesar","51":"tag-king-charles","52":"tag-leading-media-titles","53":"tag-life-saving-club","54":"tag-lilibet","55":"tag-meghan-and-harry","56":"tag-meghan-markle","57":"tag-melbourne","58":"tag-moment-panics-palace","59":"tag-new-south-wales","60":"tag-new-south-wales-waratahs","61":"tag-nigeria","62":"tag-north-america","63":"tag-northern-america","64":"tag-northern-europe","65":"tag-oceania","66":"tag-option-b","67":"tag-option-c","68":"tag-palace-gates","69":"tag-philip-glass","70":"tag-prince-of-wales","71":"tag-queen-elizabeth-ii-of-the-commonwealth-realms","72":"tag-real-estate-conferences","73":"tag-royal-family","74":"tag-royal-family-handles","75":"tag-royal-source","76":"tag-rugby-game","77":"tag-rushcutters-bay","78":"tag-sail-boat","79":"tag-security-arrangements","80":"tag-sick-kids","81":"tag-social-media","82":"tag-social-media-ban","83":"tag-south-america","84":"tag-southern-europe","85":"tag-sydney","86":"tag-sydney-opera-house","87":"tag-terror-attack","88":"tag-the-times","89":"tag-thomas-lisson","90":"tag-tom-sykes","91":"tag-tour-moment-panics","92":"tag-tower-green","93":"tag-undertaking-charity-outings","94":"tag-united-kingdom","95":"tag-united-states-of-america","96":"tag-victoria","97":"tag-visit-patient","98":"tag-western-africa-sub-saharan-africa","99":"tag-western-europe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n