Los Angeles:

Meghan Markle, the actress wife of Britain’s Prince Harry, will launch her new lifestyle and cooking show on Netflix on January 15, she announced Thursday on social media.

“I have been so excited to share this with you! I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it,” the Duchess of Sussex wrote on Instagram.

Netflix released a trailer for “With Love, Meghan,” an eight-episode series in which the “Suits” star will share tips on cooking, gardening, crafting, flower arranging and hosting.

Guests will include celebrated chef Alice Waters, actress Mindy Kaling and close friend Abigail Spencer, one of Meghan’s “Suits” co-stars. Harry appears briefly in the trailer.

“Beyond grateful for the support – and fun!” Meghan wrote on Instagram.

In March 2024, Meghan launched the lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.

Since stepping away from their official royal duties in early 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been cut off from the royal purse, forcing them to develop their own sources of income.

Their partnership with Netflix yielded the much-talked-about “Harry & Meghan,” a six-episode docuseries launched in December 2022.

In April, the couple — who live in California — announced Meghan’s lifestyle show, as well as a second series on the world of professional polo. Harry is a long-time polo enthusiast.

They are now estranged from the royal family, after making repeated complaints that Meghan, who is mixed race, was mistreated during their time as working royals.

Harry briefly went to the United Kingdom for the coronation of his father King Charles III, and again after the monarch was diagnosed with cancer.

Harry has reportedly not spoken to his brother William in months. Upon news in March that William’s wife Kate was also battling cancer, Harry and Meghan said: “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Per Page Six, during an interview, the Prince of Wales revealed that he once presented the Princess of Wales with a pair of binoculars, a gift that has since become a running joke between the couple.

“I did get my wife a pair of binoculars once. She’s never let me forget that,” Prince William said, as per Page Six.

“That was early on in the courtship — I think that sealed the deal.” He went on to explain that the gift didn’t go over well, adding, “It didn’t go well. Honestly, I have no idea why I bought her a pair of binoculars, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” as per Page Six.

The humorous confession comes from the early days of their relationship, which began when both William and Kate were students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

The couple met in 2001 and, after years of dating, married in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey in April 2011.

While the binoculars might not have been the perfect gift at the time, they have since become a fond memory for Kate, who William joked “has never let me forget” it.

In fact, the royal family has a tradition of exchanging gag gifts during the holidays, as per Page Six.

Prince Harry, for example, revealed in his 2023 memoir, Spare, that he once received a fish-shaped ballpoint pen from Princess Margaret, while it’s also been reported that Harry gifted Queen Elizabeth II a cheeky shower cap with the words “Ain’t life a b–h” on it, as per Page Six.

Meanwhile, Kate herself once reportedly gave Harry a playful “grow-your-own-girlfriend” kit.

This year, Prince William, Kate, and their three children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6 spent the festive season at the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, following the longstanding royal tradition of gathering there for Christmas.

Ahead of the holiday, Prince William shared that he would be hosting 45 guests at Sandringham and anticipated a “noisy” celebration.

However, one notable absence this year was Prince Harry and his family.

Reports from Page Six suggest that Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, did not receive an invitation to the holiday festivities.
 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Amid reports about the alleged rift between Prince Harry and Harry Meghan, a documentary, based on the couple’s life away from the spotlight of the royal family in the UK, is set to release in Germany next month. Award-winning filmmaker Ulrike Grunewald who travelled to the Californian town of Montecito to record the couple’s experiences, said they had been leading a very ‘isolated’ life in what was a lively setting for socialising and mingling in the who’s who of America.

“Harry and Meghan have set the bar very high. They want to be global benefactors who bring about tangible change. So far, they have not lived up to this image at all,” Ms Grunewald, who has been a royal correspondent since 1987, told The Mail.

“The cultural life here is very lively but often happens in closed circles, and Harry and Meghan rarely participate. They seem to have isolated themselves a lot.”

A similar version was echoed by one of the neighbours named Richard Mineards who said the Sussexes were seldom seen in the town.

“Sometimes you see her at the farmers’ market or walking a dog, but generally, you don’t see much of her or him. It’s a shame. This is a lovely place,” Mr Mineards said.

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Notably, the film intends to examine whether the couple had achieved “freedom” and financial independence since stepping back from royal duties.

“During the year that we worked on this film, a change of strategy was recognisable in Harry and Meghan. They started out as a power duo in their new life in California,” said Ms Grunewald.

Now they mainly appear separately, as they were unable to create a functioning image together. They have come down to earth. I was interested in whether Harry and Meghan’s strategies for an independent life are working. After four years, the results are very mixed,” she added.

Professional separation?

In the last week, multiple reports have claimed that the couple was exploring separate career paths, in what experts have described as ‘professional separation’. While Ms Markle is reportedly aiming to launch American Riviera Orchard next year, Mr Harry is planning the second iteration of Invictus Games in Canada. The first installment took place in Dusseldorf, Germany in 2023 and invited positive reviews. However, reports suggest that it cost German taxpayers 40 million euros (Rs 357 crore), undermining the goodwill.

London:

Prince Harry was once one of the British royal family’s most popular members, but as he celebrates his 40th birthday this weekend he is increasingly distanced from the UK public and his own family.

The younger son of King Charles III, now living in California with his American television actress wife Meghan and their two young children, reaches the landmark on Sunday.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie, aged five, and three-year-old Princess Lilibet live in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, near Santa Barbara, on the US West Coast.

But Harry is not only separated by geography.

“He is completely isolated. I don’t see him coming back even with a minor role… there’s no sign of an official role for him,” Pauline Maclaran, from Royal Holloway University of London, told AFP.

“They (the public) don’t trust him,” added royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.

Fraught ties with royals 

Harry’s ties with the royal family have been increasingly fraught since the couple quit royal life and moved to North America in early 2020.

First came an explosive television interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which the couple claimed that senior royals speculated about the colour of their unborn son’s skin.

Meghan is of mixed heritage.

Suggestions of racism prompted Harry’s brother William, heir to the throne, to declare when asked that the royals were “very much not a racist family”.

The brothers’ grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, also politely questioned Harry and Meghan’s version of events.

“Recollections may vary,” she said in a statement, promising to look into the matter.

A potentially decisive rupture came early last year with the publication of Harry’s uncompromising and unfiltered autobiography “Spare”.

The book, which is set to be released in paperback in October, was seen as an all-out attack against the centuries-old institution of the royal family, which still plays a central role in British life.

It includes lengthy passages on Harry’s strained relationship with his “beloved brother” William, 42, whom he also describes as his “arch-nemesis”, and their father.

Experts told AFP they did not see any reconciliation on the horizon.

“His differences from other members of the royal family probably would have been settled by now if any agreement had ever been possible,” said Mark Garnett, from the University of Lancaster in northwest England.

“The idea of a divided royal family only increases unwelcome media attention.”

Harry told American TV network ABC in February that he was “sure” his father’s cancer diagnosis could reunite the family, days after a brief visit to the king.

However, on another visit by the prince to London in May, father and son were at separate events nearby but did not meet.

Harry, who has railed against media intrusion, even reportedly declined an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace during his visit and instead stayed at a London hotel.

“He is naive about the damage he has caused”, said Maclaran.

‘Locked horns’ 

Relations between William and Harry, whose once-close bond was forged with the death of their mother Princess Diana in 1997, remain publicly frosty.

They were seen together at the late queen’s funeral in September 2022 but have pointedly kept their distance at subsequent events, including at their father’s coronation in May last year.

Royal author Robert Jobson likened the pair, who are reportedly not on speaking terms, to stags “who have locked horns”. 

“I can’t really see a reconciliation in the near future,” he told reporters in London this week.

While Harry and Meghan have more supporters in the United States, the British public has also apparently taken sides in the family feud.

Harry and Meghan languish at the bottom of royal popularity surveys, alongside his disgraced uncle Prince Andrew, whose links to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have made him persona non grata.

In contrast, William and his wife Catherine, who is recovering from cancer, are hugely popular.

Former British Army captain Harry, meanwhile, is keeping busy with several projects, chief among them the preparation and promotion of the Invictus Games he founded for military veterans with disabilities.

He and Meghan also recently completed a mini-tour in Colombia and Nigeria promoting mental health, equality and inclusion.

If royal tours are a “vehicle for (British) diplomacy”, the Sussexes’ visits are a way of refining their “branding”, said Maclaran, who has written about the royals and consumer culture.

The tours are a way to “stay relevant”, she added. It is only “the (royal) titles that make them different from other celebrities”, she added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Prince Harry is set to receive a huge payout on his 40th birthday later this year, according to a report. The Duke of Sussex will turn 40 on September 15. In striking contrast to his elder brother Prince William, who received a ceremonial bell concert at Westminster Abbey on his 40th birthday, Prince Harry will inherit millions on his milestone birthday, thanks to arrangements made by his late great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. 

According to the Times, the late Queen Mother established a $90 million trust fund for her family, which listed that the Duke of Sussex would receive his share when he turned 40. Prince Harry will reportedly rake in around $8.5 million from his share, which is more than Prince William is slated to get.

However, Prince Harry would still have to pay taxes on his inheritance, while his elder brother would benefit from the tax-exempt Duchy of Cornwall – a private estate that funds his public, charitable and private activities. 

“William will benefit from the vast wealth of the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate that funds the public, charitable, and private activities of the king’s heir,” a source said, per New York Post. “As a result, Harry is likely to receive slightly more than half of the 14 million pounds allocated for the brothers,” they added. 

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With an estimated current net worth of about $60 million, Prince Harry’s upcoming inheritance would be a welcome addition, the outlet noted. 

Following their exit as senior working royals, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle settled in Montecito, California. Their net worth was largely boosted because of the several high-profile projects they’ve taken on since quitting royal life in 2020. These projects include a Netflix original, Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare, and Meghan Markle’s 12-episode podcast, Archetypes. 

According to the Post, Prince Harry is even considering publishing a follow-up book. The duo are also in for a big payday with the forthcoming launch of Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard. 

Meghan Markle had asked Victoria Beckham for free clothes and handbags during her engagement to Prince Harry, claims a new book. However, Buckingham Palace purportedly intervened, citing rules against such requests, according to celebrity biographer Tom Bower’s book, ‘The House of Beckham’.

Markle also allegedly failed to return a pair of Aquazzura shoes after a fashion photoshoot.

The book details a complex relationship between the ‘Suits’ actor and the Beckhams, who were once close friends. Meghan Markle had stayed at the Beckhams’ Beverly Hills residence and a member of Victoria Beckham’s team even offered her make-up and beauty tips during her time in London, according to the book.

Tensions reportedly arose when the Duchess of Sussex suspected Victoria Beckham of leaking stories to the media, which strained their relationship. This incident reportedly led Prince Harry to “complain” to David Beckham. Victoria denied any involvement and blamed a beautician, instead. 

A source told Daily Mail that David Beckham was “bloody furious” over accusations that his family leaked information about the Sussexes to the press, making a reconciliation seem “unlikely”.

According to Mr Bower, the tension further grew due to Markle feeling sensitive about media scrutiny and jealous of the Beckhams’ wealth and luxurious lifestyle. The situation escalated when she allegedly snubbed the Beckhams at her wedding in 2018, where they were invited but not to a special dinner with celebrities like George Clooney, leaving Victoria Beckham feeling “insulted”.  

The book states that Victoria Beckham appeared “stony-faced” in photos from the erstwhile royals’ wedding at St George’s Chapel back in 2018. The relationship reportedly got “frosty” over time, with the Beckhams allegedly not inviting the Sussexes to their son Brooklyn Beckham’s lavish Palm Beach wedding to Nicola Peltz in 2022.

However, despite tensions, Markle continued to publicly support the former Spice Girl by wearing pieces from her fashion collection on several occasions, including Christmas in 2018 and the Commonwealth Day Service in 2019.

Tom Bower’s book ‘House of Beckham: Money, Sex and Power’ is out now.  

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan Markle’s biographies on the Royal Family’s official website have been updated. The couple’s biographies have been removed and merged into a single joint profile, as per a report in People Magazine.

Before this, both had individual biographies on the royal family website, which acts as a digital hub for news and updates on the monarchy. Their statement on the page says, “As announced in January 2020, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have stepped back as working members of The Royal Family. The couple married in St George’s Chapel, Windsor on 19 May 2018 and have two children: Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex.”

Under the headings “About the Duke of Sussex” and “About the Duchess of Sussex,” the page breaks down Harry and Meghan’s biographies, recapping notable moments like Prince Harry’s ten years in the British Army and the founding of the Invictus Games alongside Meghan Markle’s seven seasons on ‘Suits’ and lifestyle blog The Tig. Earlier, both had longer biographies including Prince Harry’s page mentioning his role of “supporting the Monarch.”

The Royal family’s website also mentions a link to their new website which was launched in February by the couple. In a new rebranding move, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s website has the latest news about the couple as well as links to their Archewell Foundation organization and Archewell Productions hub.

Their website which was earlier called Archwell will now be referred to as, sussex.com. The homepage features a photo of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Germany at the 2023 Invictus Games closing ceremony in September. According to the statements issued by The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan, The Duke & Duchess of Sussex, the couple aims to showcase their passions and endeavours, asserting their identities beyond traditional royal responsibilities.

“The reality behind the new site is very simple – it’s a hub for the work the Sussexes do and it reflects the fact the family have, since the King’s coronation, the same surname for the first time. That’s a big deal for any family. It represents their unification and it’s a proud moment,” an insider said.

However, the couple was slammed for using their royal titles and the Royal Coat of Arms on their new Sussex.com website. “Prince Harry and Meghan’s Biographies are immaculate! Come on”. said a reader. “This signifies their Hollywood failure and inability to succeed in their numerous business ventures. So they are falling back on the only thing they know to do and what can make them any money, trading off their royal titles. This is pathetic and demonstrates, yet again, why the titles must be removed,” an X user wrote. 

Los Angeles:

Meghan Markle, the wife of Britain’s Prince Harry, is launching a new lifestyle brand seemingly named after the couple’s oceanside California home.

An Instagram page and website for American Riviera Orchard went live without advance warning Thursday, both featuring a gold-colored crest for the new venture.

The logo featured the word Montecito, the celebrity enclave where the couple have lived since 2020, which is close to Santa Barbara — itself sometimes known as the American Riviera

The social media account’s biography simply reads: “by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.”

A representative for the duchess confirmed her participation in the new venture to AFP, without providing further details.

American Riviera Orchard appears to be a kitchen and lifestyle themed brand.

Thursday’s launch was accompanied by a grainy, retro-style promotional video in which Meghan Markle is seen arranging flowers and baking in a kitchen.

A mailing list offered users the chance to sign up to become “the first to know about products, availability, and updates from American Riviera Orchard.”

Harry and Meghan, who is American, quit royal duties in 2020 and relocated to California.

Their official @sussexroyal Instagram account has not posted since then.

Meghan Markle’s personal social media accounts and former lifestyle blog were both closed before the couple married.

In recent years, the couple have pursued a variety of media ventures.

They criticized Britain’s royal family in a string of high-profile outpourings including a Netflix documentary series and Harry’s blockbuster autobiography “Spare.”

The couple had a Spotify exclusive podcast deal, which came to an end last year after just one show.

Netflix also dropped an animated series created by Meghan Markle.

But an executive for the streaming giant in January said multiple projects from the couple, including a movie, remained “in very early development.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Former member of the UK royal family Meghan Markle on Friday spoke out against the “seemingly endless toxicity” prevalent on social media platforms. The keynote speaker for a high-profile panel commemorating International Women’s Day, Ms Markle shared her personal experiences of facing “bullying and abuse” during her pregnancies with Archie and Lilibet.

Ms Markle expressed her concern about the dehumanising nature of online interactions. She remarked that people have “forgotten our humanity” in certain sections of the media and the digital sphere.

“The bulk of the bullying and abuse that I was experiencing on social media and online was when I was pregnant with Archie and with Lili,” she said. “You just think about that and really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful – it is not catty, it is cruel.”

The 42-year-old former actress revealed that she now consciously distances herself from such negative comments for the sake of her wellbeing. 

Prince Harry and Ms Markle have faced heightened scrutiny since stepping back from the Royal Family, with public appearances becoming less frequent as they focus on their philanthropic endeavors through the Archewell Foundation in California.

“If you’re reading something terrible about a woman, why are you sharing it with your friends?” she asked. “If it was your friend, or your mum or your daughter, you wouldn’t do it. I think that is the piece that is so lost right now (with) what is happening in the digital space and in certain sections of the media – we have forgotten about our humanity and that has got to change.”

During the panel discussion, Ms Markle also revisited a formative experience from her childhood, where a letter she wrote at the age of 11 led to a change in a sexist advertisement for dishwashing liquid by Procter & Gamble. Encouraging advocacy and speaking up, she reminded the audience that “your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard.”