Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided before 2024 concluded to separate their professional interests and work on them individually. Their new PR strategy is an attempt to repair their reputations and make their brands more marketable, which meant a few solo engagements to promote those individual ventures.

The Duke of Sussex spent a portion of the past year globe-trotting alone to promote his Invictus Games and gain some goodwill with the public ahead of the paperback release of his memoir Spare and his Netflix docuseries POLO. Unfortunately for Harry, his book sales were dismal and POLO was a flop for the streaming giant. However, the success of his upcoming Invictus Games remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Meghan also made a number of solo appearances at events last year. And more recently the duchess has been photographed dropping off donations in Los Angeles County where the wildfires have caused so much devastation. Her own Netflix show has yet to debut since being delayed due to the tragic situation in her home state. But now one author is pondering how successful Meghan’s ventures without her royal husband can actually be.

Royal author gives verdict on whether Meghan can stay relevant on her own

Hugo Vickers, author of several books about the royal family, discussed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tactic of branching out on their own and if not having Harry by her side could hurt Meghan.

He told The Sun: “The strategy seems to be at the moment that she does the things that she’s good at, and he does the things that he’s good at, and very often these are done separately.”

Vickers noted that while Harry is focusing on philanthropic endeavors he began when he was still a working royal, Meghan is more into attending red carpet events. He added on the one hand, “I guess she probably doesn’t really need him” to remain in the public eye. “We certainly know who Meghan is.

However, he added: “The reason that we know that, of course, is not because of her career as an actress in Suits and other things — it’s because she married Prince Harry. The interesting question is: Is she, as Meghan, able to go her own path? Does she still need the Prince Harry connection? And I suspect the answer is that she does … Let’s say she did dump Prince Harry. What would the world think? I think that would be probably treated in a rather negative sort of way.”

Meghan will reportedly release an entire lifestyle brand when her show debuts

The eight-part series of With Love, Meghan was pushed back from its original release date in January to March out of sensitivity for the victims of the LA wildfires.

According to the show’s description, the “inspiring series, produced by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, reimagines the genre of lifestyle programming, blending practical how-to’s and candid conversation with friends, new and old. Meghan shares personal tips and tricks, embracing playfulness over perfection and highlights how easy it can be to create beauty, even in the unexpected.”

It’s been reported that in the series, Meghan will showcase several products from her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard which she first began teasing last year. Multiple sources tell Page Six that way the duchess will be able to promote and push her products directly to viewers.