Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are trying to set up an 'alternate woke royal family', a royal expert has claimed.
Yesterday, the couple issued a statement commenting on how "exceptionally fragile" the world is right now.
It touched on the Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan, the deadly earthquake that hit Haiti leaving over 1,400 people dead and the continuing Covid-19 pandemic that has left them "scared".
The Sussexes, who are living in the US, also said that even though the events may leave people feeling "powerless" people can "put our values into action — together".
But royal author Angela Levin called the pair's comments "grandiose" and said they sounded "phoney".
Angela, who is Prince Harry's biographer, told MailOnline : "I think Harry and Meghan’s grandiose, comfy and caring comments about the situation in Afghanistan, the disaster in Haiti and new Covid variants is another example of them trying to set up some sort of alternate woke royal family.
"Like most of their 'compassionate' gestures there is no indication about what they themselves will do and whether any donations will be going through Archewell Foundation.
"Their comment that they want to 'alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet – that will prove our humanity', sounds so similar to their recent comment we must be compassionate 'to those we know and those we don’t know' that makes it sound equally phoney."
Love the royals? Sign up for the Mirror's daily newsletter to get all the latest news on the Queen, Charles, Kate, Wills, Meghan, Harry and the rest of The Firm. Click here to sign up .
Many others agreed with the royal expert on social media with one Twitter user saying the statement was "more publicity-seeking word salad from Meghan and Harry".
While another asked on Twitter: "'Is there nothing that those two won’t cling to, to try and find relevance?"
However others have praised Meghan and Harry for speaking out, and many have donated to the causes they suggested.
Harry and Meghan's full statement, which was posted on their Archewell website, read: "The world is exceptionally fragile right now.
"As we all feel the many layers of pain due to the situation in Afghanistan, we are left speechless.
"As we all watch the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti, and the threat of it worsening after last weekend’s earthquake, we are left heartbroken.
"And as we all witness the continuing global health crisis, exacerbated by new variants and constant misinformation, we are left scared.
"When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realize it or not. And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we, as a people, are being conditioned to accept it. It’s easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action — together."
"To start, we encourage you to join us in supporting a number of organizations doing critical work. We also urge those in positions of global influence to rapidly advance the humanitarian dialogues that are expected to take place this fall at multilateral gatherings such as the UN General Assembly and the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
"As an international community, it is the decisions we make now — to alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet — that will prove our humanity."
As well as the statement from Harry and Meghan, the Archewell website also posted a statement from the Archewell team, which detailed how they are helping in light of these events.
It says that "we hope to do what we can to meet the moment by offering support to the military community and the troops who served in Afghanistan, as well as to the Afghan people facing violence and terror".
The statement also adds that they are "supporting the emergency response in Haiti with our partner World Central Kitchen, which is working with local organizations that are helping with recovery efforts to save lives and preserve the health of those on the ground".
And it adds that they are also "working to support vaccine equity through our commitment to combating the spread of misinformation, as well as our ongoing partnerships with Vax Live and Global Citizen."
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Harry released another statement in his role of founder of the Invictus Games Foundation, in which he urged army veterans of the Afghan conflict to help and “offer support for one another”.
Harry, who spent 10 years in the British Army, which included two frontline tours to Afghanistan, founded the Invictus Games especially for injured and wounded service men and women.
In the statement, he spoke of the "shared experience" that soldiers who fought Afghanistan have and said that what is happening now in the country "resonates across the international Invictus community".
