Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is now just a ‘side show’ for the Americans

Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen recently celebrated receiving Meghan Markle’s American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam, but former royal butler Paul Burrell claims that many A-list celebrities have distanced themselves from the Sussexes.

Prince Harry was ‘terrified that Meghan would leave him’ after he posted an ‘angry’ letter to the press (REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye)(REUTERS)

While speaking with Closer magazine, Burrell stated that the couple’s circle in the US is “getting smaller and smaller,” with stars like Oprah Winfrey “no longer seeming to be involved,” unlike when she attended their 2018 wedding and conducted their 2021 interview.

Burrell noted that other high-profile wedding guests, such as George and Amal Clooney and David and Victoria Beckham, also seem to have drifted away from the Sussexes. Earlier this month, Journalist Tina Brown questioned the authenticity of these friendships, suggesting in her 2022 book “The Palace Papers” that these guests “celebrity guests were a portrait not of Meghan’s intimate circle but of the friends she most wanted to recruit” than true friends.

Burrell acknowledged that Harry and Meghan once enjoyed immense popularity, but “Harry and Meghan were the most popular couple in the country at one time … but there’s since been a decline.”

“A-listers were riding on the moment,” he said.

ALSO READ| King Charles III asks Prince Harry not to spill anything that ‘might cause trouble’

Americans were excited about their move to California, but Burrell believes the Sussexes are now seen more as a “side show” than a “main event.”

David Beckham’s recent appearance at an awards ceremony for The King’s Foundation in London, and his role as an ambassador for the foundation, highlight his continued closeness to the royal family.

Harry and Meghan’s social standing continues

The Sussexes’ recent visit to Nigeria, called as a “quasi-royal tour,” received positive media coverage. Supporters also point to the promotion of Meghan’s jam by influencers like Teigen and Jenner, though both have their own controversies.

In Montecito, Harry and Meghan have formed bonds with wealthy neighbours, dubbed the “Montecito Mafia.” However, the nature of their relationships with other residents like Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom remains unclear.

However, the Duke of Sussex reportedly wishes to reconcile with his family and have a residence in the UK, following their eviction from Frogmore Cottage. He misses his British friends and his former life. As royal commentator Tom Quinn noted, “the honeymoon period where everything in the States is new and exciting is coming to an end.”

ALSO READ| Meghan Markle ‘lied to my daughter’: Half-sister accuses Duchess of misleading narrative about Royal wedding

Grant Harrold, a former butler for the king, echoed the same sentiment saying, “It’s very big moving to another country and not having any connection to your old home.”

Notably, Prince Harry wasn’t able to meet his father, King Charles III during his brief UK visit in May, due to the monarch’s “full schedule.”