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Over the past few years, the Duchess of Sussex has struggled to define her role, as former actress, former royal, and now aspiring businesswoman.
This week, the former Suits actress, 43, opened a digital shop filled with a ‘curated collection of the things I love’.
In exchange for her recommendations, Meghan is set to make millions as she earns commissions as high as 30 per cent for purchases made.
One of the reasons Meghan and Prince Harry parted ways with the Royal Family was the monarchy’s refusal to accept commercial endorsements by the couple.
And since leaving the dreary UK for sun-soaked California in early 2020, the Sussexes have signed lucrative deals with Penguin Random House and Spotify as well as releasing series on Netflix including Polo and With Love, Meghan – both of which were met with excoriating reviews.
Under the terms of Harry and Meghan’s agreement with Buckingham Palace when they acrimoniously quit royal duties, there is nothing to the Duchess from selling products as long as she doesn’t nakedly cash in on her royal links.
So when over 1,000 British adults were asked by market research firm Ipsos if they see Meghan more as a celebrity than a royal, it is no wonder the majority agreed.
Hover over the numbers to reveal which members of the Royal Family are viewed by the British public as blue-blooded royalty, and who is seemingly more at home on the red carpet.
A staggering 60 per cent of those surveyed by Ipsos considered Meghan to be a celebrity – with a meagre seven per cent viewing her as royalty.
Before marrying Prince Harry, Meghan Markle was an actress on the hit legal drama Suits – and royal commentators have long theorised that she never truly figured out the difference between being a celebrity and being a member of the Royal Family.
While the Duchess of Sussex was courting the cameras on a red carpet in Los Angeles in September 2023, her sister-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales, was greeting South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol at the start of his state visit to Britain.
‘The contrast was striking,’ the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden wrote in a Palace Confidential newsletter at the time.
‘Members of the Royal Family walk down a red carpet when the other guests at a film premiere or theatrical first night have already taken their seats.
‘But here was Meghan, who would have joined Catherine at the opulent state banquet at Buckingham Palace, instead walking down the carpet at the Power Of Women event.’
Unaccompanied by Prince Harry, writes Eden, Meghan ‘couldn’t have looked less regal… just another celebrity waiting to be interviewed by a reporter for Variety magazine.
‘She posed for photographers like the wannabe starlet she once was, before being rushed along impatiently by another guest.’
Meghan couldn’t have looked less regal as she appeared at the Variety Power of Women event, wrote Richard Eden
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive to the Salute to Freedom Gala in New York City in 2021
‘I think Meghan basically didn’t ever get straight in her mind the difference between being on the red carpet as a celebrity and the red carpet as a royal, and she just didn’t understand the incredibly important distinction,’ Fox News royal contributor Duncan Larcombe said in 2021.
‘When you’re in a movie premiere, it’s because you’re in the film, or you’re a Hollywood actor, or you’re a celebrity on the red carpet. It’s about you, that’s your image, it’s about what you get,’ Larcombe continued.
‘When you’re on the red carpet as a Royal, it’s about the people you’re coming to meet, you’re doing it out of duty.’
As for her husband Prince Harry, who was born into the Royal Family as the second child of Princess Diana and then Prince Charles, 40 per cent said he was ‘more of a celebrity’.
Interestingly, 21 per cent of respondents viewed him as equal parts celebrity and royalty – while only one in five considered him ‘more a member of the Royal Family’.
In comparison, Harry’s older brother Prince William is viewed as royalty by the vast majority of the British public (71 per cent).
Only 6 per cent view him as more of a celebrity – the lowest percentage of all the royals included in the survey.
As the heir-to-the-throne, William dedicates his life to official duties and engagements in the UK and abroad on behalf of his father King Charles.
Prince Harry at the world premiere of Dunkirk in 2017. 40 per cent of Brits said he was ‘more of a celebrity’ than royal
Prince William attends the BAFTAs in 2024. He is the President of BAFTAs as well as 30 other charities and organisations
The Prince of Wales walks with actor Tom Cruise at the UK premier of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022
The Prince of Wales is the President or Royal Patron of around 30 charities and organisations including Tusk Trust, Centrepoint and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs).
As protecting the environment is one of his key priorities, William launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 – a global environmental prize and platform to discover, award, celebrate and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet every year until 2030.
Much like his late mother Princess Diana, William is also a passionate advocate for the homeless and in June 2023, he launched Homewards.
As well as founding and supporting a wide range of initiatives, William is a father-of-three and the loving husband of Catherine, the Princess of Wales.
Despite being born to ‘commoners’ Carole and Michael Middleton, Catherine has managed to ingratiate herself with the Royal Family and the British public – 62 per cent of which view her as royalty.
Around 16 per cent of the public see her as both royal and a celebrity, while one in ten view her as more of a celebrity.
In another shocking twist, sisters Beatrice and Eugenie are seen as celebrities by 16 and 17 per cent of the British adults surveyed respectively while nearly 40 per cent see them more as royalty.
But around a quarter of those surveyed said they don’t view the York sisters as either members of the Royal Family or celebrities. And one in ten said they did not know Prince Andrew’s daughters at all.
William and Catherine, then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at the film premiere of Top Gun: Maverick
Catherine attends the premiere of No Time To Die in 2021. 62 per cent of the British public view her as royalty
Princess Beatrice attends Vogue World: London in 2023. 16 per cent of the British public view her as a celebrity compared to 38 per cent who see her as a royal
Princess Eugenie attends Vogue World: London in 2023. 17 per cent of the British public view her as a celebrity compared to 37 per cent who see her as a royal
A quarter of those surveyed said they don’t view the York Sisters as either members of the Royal Family or celebrities
Although Beatrice and Eugenie are currently non-working members of the Royal Family and often attend events such as Vogue World: London, they have stepped in to help with official engagements over the last year following the cancer diagnoses of King Charles and Princess Catherine.
‘The princesses have been quietly getting on with supporting all these charities for some time. But they also have lives outside of the family,’ a source told Hello Magazine.
‘They’ve got families, they’ve got jobs. I’m not sure whether they would want to come fully into the fold and be full working royals.’
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