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Palace expert's swing at Harry and Meghan's 'extraordinary' act
The Queen’s former press secretary has weighed in on Harry and Meghan’s very tumultuous year of departures, arrivals and spotted appearances in the press.
Dickie Arbiter the former Press Secretary of Queen Elizabeth II has made an unusual statement about the royals, taking aim at Harry and Meghan’s over what he described as their ‘extraordinary’ approach to the press and public life after leaving the royal family.
Harry and Meghan shocked the world with the sudden announcement of their withdrawal from senior royal life back in January, but have since re-entered the fray with a move to LA and their own, curated appearances and content shared with the world.
The former Buckingham Palace insider made no secrets of his shock at this new approach.
“I find it extraordinary that two people who left basically because they felt press intrusion and yet in the past 12 months we've had nothing but drip-feeding the press about things that they're doing,” the former media advisor told True Royalty TV.
Harry and Meghan’s various appearances included their own private commemoration of Remembrance Day from LA where the coronavirus has kept them stranded from their royal family back in the UK, although persistent rumours of a feud suggest it’s not just a global pandemic keeping a sea between the duo and the British royals.
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Most recently the pair have released a trailer for their new podcast through their foundation Archewell.
The former senior royals announced earlier this month that they are releasing their own show exclusively on Spotify, which aims to “build community through shared experience, narratives and values.”
The deal with Spotify, reportedly worth up to AUD$53 million, is in addition to the Netflix deal the couple secured over the summer.
The $130 million mega-deal with Netflix will see them produce scripted series, documentaries and children’s TV programmes.
A royal source claimed the Queen was kept in the dark about the very public move by the former senior royals, discovering the turn of events along with the rest of the world, second hand.
The Queen was reportedly informed about the couple’s decision through palace aides, with no direct information, let alone consultation, from the duo themselves.
“Harry did not inform the Queen about the Netflix deal,” a source reportedly told The Sun.
Archewell is the name they have given to their non-profit, inspired by the Greek work ‘Arche’ which means ‘source of action’.
Harry and Meghan of course famously stepped down from royal life after a challenging year of press coverage and a struggle to adjust to their roles in the spotlight.
Shortly after the announcement, Harry revealed the duo had originally wanted to maintain their roles, but remove public funding which wasn’t agreed to by the family.
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