Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have found themselves back in the headlines after their multiple solo appearances in recent months which has led to increased speculation that the former royal couple are leading “separate lives”.
The couple, who relocated to Montecito, California in 2020 to start a new life away from the monarchy, have found themselves in their local newspaper due to their numerous public appearances without one another and the disappearance of Meghan’s engagement ring yet again.
The Montecito Journal reported on rumours about Harry and Meghan leading “increasingly separate lives”. Their comment comes after the Duke of Sussex, 40, spent at least a fortnight away from Meghan and their two kids, Archie and Lilibet, while making public appearances in New York, London, and Southern Africa.
The former Suits actress, 43, also attended a star-studded gala for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, on her own as well as a solo visit to a girls’ leadership organisation on International Day of the Girl, noticeably without her engagement ring.
The speculation of their marriage problems is another huge blow for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they continue to deal with their ongoing feud with the Royal Family. Harry and Meghan made the decision to step down from their senior royal duties in 2020 and have not held back in throwing Firm members under the bus since.
Tensions grew particularly high following the release of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries in 2022 with the duke’s tell-all memoir Spare coming just weeks later in January 2023.
This was already a particularly tough time for the monarchy given the late Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022 and it’s been reported that some members of the Royal Family are refusing to forgive the Sussexes for this.
This is not the only famous divide Harry and Meghan have caused in recent years as the Record previously reported the Sussexes had fallen out with their pals David and Victoria Beckham following years of friendship.
Royal author Tom Bowen previously claimed that the Sussexes’ became “addicted” to reading negative press coverage about themselves and grew wary that some of their closest friends may be leaking stories about their lives.
Keen to find out the culprits, Meghan allegedly suspected Victoria and Prince Harry phoned up David Beckham to discuss these accusations. The Beckhams, who attended the Sussexes’ wedding in 2019, were allegedly left “outraged”, leaving their relationship with the royal couple in tatters.
The following year after Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries, Posh and Becks released their own highly successful Netflix series, called ‘Beckham’ with the public giving them a very different reaction to what the Sussexes received.
Although Harry and Meghan’s show did very well for viewing figures, it consequently saw their US favourability absolutely tank, and in only a matter of weeks.
Within just a month of its release in December 2022, Harry fell 45 points in terms of public opinion in the US by January 2023 and Meghan tumbled 36 points, according to polling done by Redfield & Wilson for Newsweek.
Meanwhile, after the release of ‘Beckham’, David has gained half a million social media followers and there is hugely renewed global interest in the pair.
Google Trends data shows that the release of the sporting icon’s series has seen a massive spike in associated searches, far outstripping the comparatively minor jump in search interest that accompanied the Harry & Meghan release.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, Beckham has an average audience score of 98 per cent; Harry & Meghan’s is 19 per cent.
These stats come as a source recently told People magazine that the duke and duchess are focusing on different things and they said “it’s clear a twin track is evolving”.
The insider added: “The Duke and Duchess have now hit their stride as individuals – not just as a couple. The Duke appears focused on his patronage work, and the Duchess focused on her entrepreneurial track.”
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