Meghan and Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on divergent career paths

For the better part of a century, there is one thing that the British royal family has done with aplomb: break up.

Edward VIII broke up with Great Britain, Princess Margaret ended things with Group Captain Peter Townsend followed by husband the Earl of Snowdon and then landscaper Roddy Llewellyn, and in 1992, three of the late Queen’s four children separated from their various spouses, followed by a trio of divorces.

In more recent years, King Charles has been busy breaking up with fossil fuels, Princes William and Harry have parted ways from their hair and Kate, the Princess of Wales has split from her ‘orrible nude wedge heels. (May they rest in style hell).

Thus, welcome to the royal breakup party Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

I’m not talking about – not for a single, solitary second – her marriage to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, with the pair, the last time they were seen in public, doing their usual hand-

grasping, looking-adoringly-at-one-another routine. (Sick bucket, anyone?)

Oh no. Rather, after five years of Brand Sussex, the sum of the duke and duchess greater than the parts, the former Suits actress is going her own way.

For the first time since the couple tied the knot in 2018, and even more consequentially, for the first time since they launched their US careers in 2020, Meghan is largely forging ahead solo.

Now with their podcast deal with Spotify having gone the way of the Dodo and Princess Margaret, it is looking increasingly like the duchess has traded their Sussex double act for her own one-woman show.

Meghan – and only Meghan – has a new super agent and reportedly “offers have been pouring in” for Meghan – and only Meghan.

With Harry pursuing his court cases and with his Heart of Invictus Netflix documentary reportedly set to air in the coming months and the Suits actress and her retinue of advisors plotting her next chapter, it looks a lot like, for the first time, the couple are truly on divergent professional paths.

While in recent years the Sussexes have gone along to charity outings clasping one another while racking up plump, juicy deals with corporate America as a welded-together twofer, this year is remarkable for how separate their working lives have become.

Something seems to have shifted in the last six months with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who, so far this year, have only undertaken one – uno, un, eins – engagement or professionally-related outing together. (In the before-times they would have gotten that in before their chia seed pudding breakfasts and morning gratitude mantras).

In January, when Harry was on the hustings to shift copies of his tell-all Spare, Meghan was nowhere to be seen. She did not once pop up, even in the background of his various TV interviews or in B roll footage. Her absence was marked.

Little surprise then that in January, the Telegraph’s Victoria Ward reported that “sources suggest that media-savvy Meghan was slightly more circumspect about the concept of a memoir and may have raised gentle concerns about whether it was the right move”.

It was the first chink in their usually united front.

But that was just Harry’s book, right? His story, his journey, blah blah blah, therefore clearly it was his moment.

Except that things are yet to return to normal programming for the duke and duchess.

It took until April for the couple to even be photographed together, with them oh-so-subtly turning up to an LA Lakers game like a Kardashians with a new boyfriend to soft launch.

The Sussexes’ awkward reluctance to lock lips when the kiss cam hit them didn’t exactly help the situation.

But the real clanger came days later when it was revealed that Meghan – and just Meghan – had signed on with Hollywood mega agency WME with famed impresario Ari Emanuel to take over managing her career.

According to the Twitter post breaking the news, “The agency will be focusing on building out her business ventures across multiple facets of the agency & its broader ecosystem, including film & television production, brand partnerships & more”.

Note “her business ventures” – not theirs.

Back in 2020 when they pitched in the land of the free and realised that nothing actually was, it was Harry plus Meghan who went about signing contracts with fat dollar figures attached including with Netflix, Spotify and Wall Street investment firm Ethic, all of them together. (There have also been reports suggesting that Harry’s Penguin Random House deal also includes Meghan).

But now, with this WME development, for the very first time since Megxit, here is the duchess taking a major professional leap on her lonesome. (Yes, yes, while both she and Harry have at time pursued individual projects, such as her 2021 children’s book The Bench, his memoir and his role as Chief Impact Officer, there is a world of difference between these instances and an overarching, big-picture strategy that only includes one HRH).

Not long after this announcement, a highly-placed Hollywood insider told the New York Post: “This deal is about making Meghan a power player in Hollywood. Even though she is, of course, an actress, this isn’t about movies or shows for Meghan to star in, it is about creating projects for her to produce – she wants to run the show.”

Harry? Harry who?

When the Spotify news broke last week, closely followed by the inevitable spin-the-lemonade-out-of-lemons-ing of this mess, it was all focused on, get this, the duchess.

The Mail on Sunday has reported that WME’s “mission to reinvent Meghan is already well underway”.

“We’ve been working on the rebranding of Meghan for weeks,” a source at the agency told the Mail.

“Ari is the best in the business when it comes to corporate deals and making money. He’s excited to be representing Meghan and has thrown all his energy into it.

“The offers have been pouring in, including from other podcast platforms.”

From the sounds of it, these Hollywood sorts who measure their net worth in Ferraris and ex-wives are beavering away at making Meghan into a going commercial and entertainment concern. Just Meghan.

Where is Harry in all this? If all of these bright WME minds are plotting and planning Meghan’s next steps (a Kmart crockery like? A tilt at running the World Bank?) what is the chap going to do with himself?

Having told (and sold) his story and with him already making a Netflix show about his single significant professional achievement, what else can he do that is saleable?

The question that remains to be answered is, aside from his title, what else does Harry have to offer the entertainment world?

Moreover, has Brand Sussex been mothballed for now?

As reputation crisis expert Eric Schiffer told the Daily Mail recently: “Meghan is wise to distance herself from her husband’s toxic dramas. This is a woman who constantly moves forward. This is about building a global brand. There will be some big deals announced soon”.

(Never mind that “global brand” of the monarchy that the Sussexes quit).

At least if the Duchess of Sussex ends up “running the show” and producing her own projects, she can give her husband a job. Someone has to make tea after all.

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.