Expert breaks down everything wrong with Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s humanitarian work

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s trip to Jordan has been a topic of much ridicule and commentary and much of it stems from the sheer contrast between the Duke’s humanitarian image and that of Meghan’s.

Founder of PR and branding agency The Atticism, Renae Smith is who has delivered this observation about the alleged ‘competition’ between them.

She broke this down in a chat with The Daily Express and started by saying, “The bigger strategic issue is alignment.”

Reason being, the Jordanian trip was conducted in collaboration with the WHO team for their frontline health and mental health programmes. During that trip, they also met World Central Kitchen staff who are co-ordinating food relief for Gaza, from Amman.

It is due to this she offered her professional take on things and said, “if Harry is doing humanitarian travel and Meghan is scaling a commercial lifestyle brand, those two narratives need to feel complementary, not parallel.”

In her eyes “usually, when a public figure successfully straddles commerce and cause, there is a clear through-line that connects the two. Think of brands that tie product to purpose in a measurable way. Without that, it can feel like two separate lanes competing for attention. And again, I think they now have very different lanes, and it may be time to stop trying to merge them. Let them stand independently.”

Near the end she also offered her take as a PR expert, and explained that for anything to “genuinely shift perception” the couple will have to offer “measurable impact, a strong narrative hook, or a defining moment that cuts through the noise.” Furthermore, in her point of view “this trip had none of those. It felt casually competent, but not strategic.”