Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were very open about their motivation for stepping down as senior royals. One of their biggest motivations was to avoid the kinds of controversies that were often stirred up by British tabloids.
However, the world quickly discovered that these two were capable of causing controversy all on their own. And it doesn’t take a British tabloid to see how chaotic this couple has been on almost every level!
Don’t believe it? Here is our roundup of the biggest Harry and Meghan controversies since they stepped down as senior royals.
They criticized Spotify but didn’t pull out of it
Since stepping down, Harry and Meghan have become very outspoken about a number of major issues. And they joined in the criticism of Spotify for continuing to give Joe Rogan a platform. This was in reaction to misinformation about COVID-19 and its treatments that the host kept sharing via The Joe Rogan Experience.
As Today reports, a representative for Harry and Meghan’s Archewell foundation minced no words about the royals’ stance. “Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day.” The representative also pointed out that Harry and Meghan both “began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform.”
There is just one problem: the couple produces content for Spotify via Archewell Audio. The two could have made a more powerful statement by pulling their content away from Spotify as Neil Young did. Instead, they offered empty words of criticism but kept those paychecks coming in.
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Meghan pranked vendors with Ellen DeGeneres
A major part of Harry and Meghan’s brand is that they are modern, woke, and approachable. They have a carefully-crafted public image to help set themselves apart from the controversial Royal Family. Unfortunately, some of their attempts to build this new brand simply generated their own controversies.
For example, Meghan Markle appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show in November 2021. As part of her appearance, Meghan pranked some of Ellen’s vendors. The pranks were aired, and the vendors had no idea what was going on.
Comments on the official video revealed how many viewers thought the pranks were mean-spirited and disrespectful. Additionally, Ellen has a reputation for mistreating her crew and others, so Meghan appearing alongside such a controversial figure ended up doing more harm to her brand than good.
They use private jets despite being climate change activists
Harry and Meghan do not own a private jet (at least, as far as we know). But they are rich, famous, and connected enough to keep making use of these jets to go all over the place.
For example, they’ve hitched rides in Tyler Perry’s private jet, and also took such a jet to meet Elton John. They even took a jet to Ibiza in 2019 to celebrate Meghan’s 38th birthday.
This wouldn’t be a controversy if the two weren’t such outspoken activists against climate change. Vanity Fair reports that Harry attended a climate change summit and took off his shoes to symbolically discuss one’s carbon footprint. But Harry took a private jet to this event, making his own carbon footprint much worse than the average person.
Harry told “Greta” and others that the private jets are necessary to protect Meghan and himself. However, considering that Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was content to always travel by British Airways, this seems to be little more than a convenient excuse.
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They’ve partnered with Netflix despite ‘The Crown’
Speaking of Diana, she is at the center of another controversy for Harry and Meghan. And this controversy revolves around their deal with Netflix.
Back in 2020, the two signed a lucrative deal with Netflix to produce documentaries, movies, TV shows, and more. And an insider told Us Weekly that this deal was worth a mouthwatering $100 million, which was that much more important when the two had just stepped away from all that family money.
But Netflix also produces the royal-focused show The Crown. That show has been criticized for its portrayals of Princess Diana, and an upcoming season will focus on her death. Many thought that Harry would want to pull away from a streaming network literally profiting off of his mother’s life and death, but the money is apparently too good to walk away from.
Harry was fooled by a prank call from “Greta Thunberg”
Before Harry and Meghan came to America, they spent some time in Canada. And while they were there, Harry fell victim to a harmless (but fairly embarrassing) telephone prank.
According to The Guardian, in March 2020, Russian jokesters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov called Harry and successfully pretended to be Greta Thunberg and her father. They actually got Harry to talk about climate change and try to defend his use of private jets (more on this in a minute).
The prank was so convincing that Harry told “Greta” that “she” had the ability to “reach into his soul and get him to feel.” This made things that much more embarrassing when the prank was revealed, and the world saw how easy it is to fool Harry!
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They take advantage of Delaware tax loops despite living in California
The trick to staying wealthy is finding creative ways to not pay your fair share of taxes. And going by this metric, it looks like Harry and Meghan will be fine for a good, long time!
Earlier this year, the Daily Mail reported that even though Harry and Meghan live in California, 11 of their companies are located in Delaware. Why Delaware? Simple: the state is famous for the tax advantages it offers businesses.
For example, businesses in the state pay no corporate income tax, no inheritance tax, and no tax on interest. Depending on your thoughts about how much tax wealthy people should pay, this may not seem like much of a controversy. But keep in mind that Harry and Meghan are frequent critics of Donald Trump, a man who is downright infamous for his various tax dodges.
They haven’t let the Queen meet Lilibet Diana in person yet
Harry and Meghan may have traveled across the pond to escape family drama. Unfortunately, that drama seems to have followed them to America!
For example, Newsweek reported that Queen Elizabeth wants to meet Harry and Meghan’s 10-month-old daughter Lilibet Diana, but Harry and Meghan have seemingly made no effort to fly to England and make introductions. While it’s impossible to know the couple’s motivations, many believe that Harry and Meghan are avoiding the Queen due to ongoing family drama.
Speaking of family drama, the Daily Mail reported that Harry wouldn’t be attending the Service of Thanksgiving intended to honor his late grandfather, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey in March 2022. It would be one thing if Harry was just avoiding international travel, but he still intends to visit the Netherlands in April to attend the Invictus Games.
From the outside looking in, it certainly looks like Harry is snubbing the Queen in a major way. And given all of the recent concerns about the Queen’s health, time may be running out for the Queen to meet Lilibet and for Harry and Meghan to bury the hatchet.