Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are facing fresh criticism after royal commentators claimed they are doing what Queen Elizabeth II banned in 2020, by staging overseas tours that appear designed to monetise their royal status while living as private citizens.
When the couple stepped back from royal duties in January 2020, they asked the late Queen to approve a 'half-in, half-out' arrangement. They wanted to keep serving the monarchy while also pursuing commercial projects in the United States, but the Sandringham Summit made clear that working royals could not mix public duty with private business.
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry And The 'Fake Royal Tour' Accusations
Royal commentators now argue that, six years later, the Sussexes are drifting back towards the very model the Queen rejected. Hilary Fordwich told Fox News that what Elizabeth saw as 'totally and utterly unacceptable' has become the couple's operating style, with the line between private citizens and celebrity brands increasingly blurred.
Fordwich also claimed that 'each trip they make is styled to be rather like a faux royal tour' and that they seem to 'monetise almost every moment'. The accusation is that the couple package brand building and commercial opportunity in the visual language of official royal visits.
The latest flashpoint came after their trip to Australia last month. Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, attended a series of engagements, met well-wishers, shook hands and posed for photographs, prompting critics to label it a 'fake royal tour'.
To detractors, the visit looked and felt like the kind of overseas trip once carried out for the Crown, but now folded into the Sussexes' personal brand and their Archewell charitable work. Supporters would say modern philanthropy often involves cameras and publicity, and that visibility is part of raising awareness rather than simply selling products.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams also linked the criticism back to the rejected 2020 proposal. He said there is a major difference between what the monarchy offers and what Harry and Meghan are doing now, adding that their brand still attracts huge amounts of publicity.
That publicity has been central to the couple's post royal strategy, from high profile interviews to Harry's 2023 memoir Spare, in which he detailed his life as the second son of King Charles. The book secured financial independence for the Sussexes, but it also reinforced the idea that royal stories remain central to their commercial appeal.
Queen Elizabeth's Red Line And Harry's 'Born To Do' Defence
The heart of the dispute is that 2020 Sandringham meeting, when Queen Elizabeth drew a firm line. The Palace insisted that public duty and private profit had to remain separate to protect the monarchy's neutrality and reputation.
That decision left Harry and Meghan with a clear choice, and they chose to step back fully, moving to North America and giving up their roles as senior working royals. In theory, that gave them freedom to build media, lifestyle and charitable projects without palace oversight.
In practice, the boundary has never looked especially neat. The Sussexes still use their titles, still draw on their royal biographies and still attract global attention whenever they travel, which is why critics say their public life can look uncomfortably close to the very arrangement the Queen refused.
Harry has continued to insist that he remains connected to the royal family even while living outside it. During an unannounced visit to Ukraine last month, he said, 'I will always be part of the royal family ... I am here working and doing the things I was born to do.'
That remark captures the tension at the centre of the row. He no longer represents the Crown, yet he still describes his public role in terms rooted in royal identity rather than private citizenship.
Since leaving royal life, Meghan and Harry have focused on Archewell Philanthropies and Meghan's lifestyle brand As Ever, while continuing to make public appearances that, to critics, resemble the tours they once undertook in the Queen's name. The allegation is not that they have broken the law, but that they are edging back into a grey area Queen Elizabeth tried to close.
Neither Meghan nor Harry has responded directly to the latest criticism, and Buckingham Palace has not commented publicly. With no formal rulebook for how former working royals should present themselves abroad, the debate remains shaped more by perception than by regulation.
