Meghan Markle is reportedly finding her declining popularity in the United States “hard to swallow” while Prince Harry is “uninterested” in negative opinion polls.
A Sussex insider has claimed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s “gloss is wearing off” for Americans with the Duchess reportedly struggling with her declining popularity.
Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, moved to California in 2020 after “stepping back” from royal duties and quickly inked deals with Netflix and Spotify in excess of $100 million off the back of global interest in the couple.
Four years later, Spotify has sacked the Sussexes and labelled the former working royals “grifters” while the couple’s Netflix deal hangs in the balance.
Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond believes the Sussexes have differing approaches to public opinion polls, with Meghan “more savvy” than her husband.
The Sussexes have differing approaches to public opinion polls. Picture: Getty Images for W+P.
“I don’t imagine that Harry takes a great deal of interest in random polls about their popularity, but media savvy Meghan might find it rather harder to swallow,” she told OK! Magazine on Monday.
According to Newsweek, the Duchess of Sussex was “liked” by 36 percent of adults and “disliked” by 24 percent of Americans as of May, giving her net approval rating of plus 12.
Despite being an American citizen herself, Meghan significantly lags behind Princess Catherine, Prince William and even Prince Harry among Americans.
Ms Bond pointed to the recent controversy over Harry’s Pat Tillman award win at the ESPYs as an example of the couple’s “own goals” that have contributed to their declining popularity.
“I think it was something of an own goal for Harry to accept this award when it was clear the Tillman family – and a significant percentage of Americans – were against it,” she said.
“It might have been wiser either to decline, or to nominate one of his Invictus heroes as a worthy winner.”
The Sussexes’ glitzy ESPY award ceremony was also quickly overshadowed by the rival Wimbledon tennis championships, culminating in Princess Catherine’s grand return during the men’s final that made global headlines.
On the contrary, Ms Bond claimed the “novelty” of having former working royals like Meghan and Harry living in the United States “has worn off” for the general public.
“I suppose Americans have now got used to the novelty of having a British prince making his home in their country, and inevitably some of the gloss is wearing off,” she said.
“But Harry remains an immensely likeable man, and I’m sure his personality makes him as popular as ever with people he associates with.”
