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.

Eric Trump, the son of former US President Donald Trump, has expressed his disdain for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, suggesting his father may deport the couple, should he win the US presidential election come November. 

“You can happily have those two [Meghan and Harry] back. We’ll happily send them back from America,” Eric Trump said in an interview with GB News on Sunday. “You can have them back over here, but I’m not sure if you want them anymore. We might not want them anymore, it feels like they’re on an island of their own.”

He praised the royal family as a “beautiful” and “sacred Institute” but took a swipe at Meghan Markle’s past career as a Hollywood actress, calling her a “spoiled apple” and saying, “You can always have bad actors in everything.”

Eric Trump mentioned he held a deep admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II, adding he and his father “had so much respect” for her. He fondly recalled his father’s interactions with Queen Elizabeth during his presidency, from 2017 to 2021.

After her death in 2022, Donald Trump praised her “historic and remarkable reign” on his Truth Social platform. Eric Trump also shared a personal connection to the royal family, revealing that his late mother, Ivana Trump, “had a great relationship” with Princess Diana, Prince Harry’s mother. 

Eric Trump’s recent comments insulting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not the first time the Trump family has publicly criticised the couple. His father, Donald Trump, has been vocal about his dislike for the couple, particularly Markle, whom he has accused of being “disrespectful” to the royal family. 

In March, Trump suggested that the royal couple, who have been living in California since 2020, may need to relocate due to Harry’s admission of drug use in the US, as revealed in his memoir ‘Spare’. The former US President stated that Harry should not have “special privileges” and that “appropriate action” must be taken if he lied on his US visa application.

Previously, at the CPAC in February, Donald Trump declared that he “wouldn’t protect” Harry, calling him an “embarrassment” and stating that he “betrayed the queen”. He also predicted that Harry and Meghan Markle’s marriage would “end bad” in a 2022 interview with Piers Morgan.

New Delhi:

In a significant departure from tradition, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have changed the surnames of their children. Recently, the couple launched its new website, sussex.com, where many noticed the change, the Mirror reported.

Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie have now taken the surname Sussex, instead of Mountbatten-Windsors. 

In 1960, Mountbatten-Windsor was decreed by the Privy Counsel, the official advisors to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The surname is applied to the male-line descendants of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. 

A source told The Times that the reality behind Harry and Meghan’s new website 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.” 

The source noted this was a “big deal for any family.” 

“It represents their unification and it’s a proud moment,” the source added. 

Meanwhile, the couple’s decision to use their children’s royal titles has come as a bit “surprising,” with many accusing them of boasting their links to the Britain’s Royal family. 

Once you open the website, the homepage welcomes users to the official site of “The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan, The Duke & Duchess of Sussex”. Besides this, it also features a special coat of arms, especially designed for Meghan. 

The website also offers a detailed bio for each of them — Harry and Meghan — separately.

“Prince Harry lives in California with his wife Meghan, and their two children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet,” reads Harry’s bio.

Mentioning their children as ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess’ has caused “surprise,” a source told Mirror.

Archie and Lilibet weren’t provided the titles at the time of birth because back then they were not grandchildren of the monarch. After Charlies became the King in 2022, the two of them became the grandchildren of a Monarch, thereby changing their status. 

Donald Trump has hit out at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, accusing the couple of “breaking Queen Elizabeth’s heart”. The former president of the United States spoke to Nigel Farage in an exclusive interview and expressed his disapproval of how the Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down as members of the royal family in 2020, Independent reported. 

Speaking about the Queen, he said, “I think there was great disrespect to a person I got to know very well and like; the Queen. She was unbelievable you know.”

He continued: “I thought she was treated very disrespectfully by them. Although she wouldn’t show it because she was strong and smart, I imagine they broke her heart. The things that they were saying were so bad and so horrible and she was in her 90s and hearing this stuff. I think they broke her heart. I think they hurt her bad.”

The former President further insisted that Harry and Meghan ”were very disrespectful to the royal family” when they decided to step down from their duties. 

Meanwhile, he praised the late Queen, who died in September 2022, stating she “never made a mistake” during her reign. He told Mr Farage: “I’m a little prejudiced because I thought the Queen was incredible. I mean, think of it all those years, 75 years. She’s rarely made a mistake.”

The Duke of Sussex moved to the US with his wife Meghan Markle in January 2020. It was reported they “ignored” the Queen’s request to delay announcing their decision to quit public life.

During the interview, Trump also hinted that if he is elected as the US president, Prince Harry may face deportation over drug use he admitted to in his 2023 memoir. Notably, The Duke of Sussex’s immigration status has become the subject of a legal battle after Harry admitted to taking illegal drugs in his memoir, ‘Spare’  which was released last year.

”We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action,” Trump said.

In ‘Spare’, Harry wrote that when he was younger, he had taken cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, noting that the cocaine ”didn’t do anything for me,” but ”Marijuana is different, that did help me.”

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.