Meghan Markle reaches breaking point with Prince Harry

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are once again facing intense public scrutiny.

As recent reports suggest a decline in the Duchess of Sussex's popularity ratings, sources claim that the couple face renewed pressure to redefine their public and commercial roles outside the royal family.

Recently cited polling data revealed that Meghan's favorability among some American respondents has fallen compared with previous years. Moreover, lower web traffic for the Duchess' lifestyle brand, As Ever has also been reported.

This has sparked speculations about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's professional direction.

"Meghan can ignore a lot of criticism; she's usually extremely resilient, but this is coming from a pretty legitimate source, so it’s very hard to ignore this kind of critique," the source said, as quoted by Closer Magazine.

They added, "It’s beyond demoralizing. She’s put so much effort into her brand over the last couple of years; to get this kind of lacklustre response is a very painful reality for her to face."

It is pertinent to mention that in recent years, Harry and Meghan have increasingly pursued individual projects, with the son of King Charles focusing on charitable initiatives and public service work while Meghan has focused on media and lifestyle ventures.

Several outlets suggested that the differing career paths may be creating challenges behind the scenes. "If things were going well and she was hitting all the financial goals she has for the business there’d be no issue with what Harry is, or isn’t, contributing as far as sharing the burden," the source said.

Adding, "But things are not going as planned and that tends to breed resentment, especially when the fact is, he’s not carrying near the same burden or workload as she is."

Meghan Markle is said to be arguing with Prince Harry to "pull his head out" and accept that he needs to get on board with actively promoting their Sussex brand otherwise their popularity could be at risk.

"She would love to see him equally invested in building their brand, instead of just passively writing it off as being ‘too Hollywood’ for him. To her, that’s a cop out," the tipster told the outlet.

"She’s complained that he acts as though he’s above it all, when in reality they can’t afford to be above it. In her view, this poll and the dismal numbers prove that. She wants Harry to pull his head out of the sand and start taking this seriously."

Royal commentator Tom Bower also explained that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are at crossroads. "The problem is she [Markle] can't earn any money anymore and now finds herself at an unfortunate crossroads where she can't raise money by way of work anymore and needs to find a new way for the rest of her life."

"It's becoming harder and harder for them to coexist in a positive way when they feel under attack from all sides. Every time they think they're making progress, along comes another setback and it puts them both in a foul mood," the source told the magazine.

While the Sussexes brush it off in public, their inner circle claims that it is affecting them.