No sooner did Harry return to Canada that he and Meghan gave an insight into how adept they were at avoiding the press when it suited them. They snuck out of their bolthole on Vancouver Island undetected, were driven to the airport, boarded the JP Morgan Gulfstream company jet, flew to Palm Beach and landed that same evening, all in absolute anonymity. This suggested that the press might not have them under constant observation the way they were suggesting it did.
No matter what, Meghan and Harry remained assiduous in protecting their privacy. Now that they were private individuals rather than working royals, they no longer bothered about the contradiction inherent in eco-warriors like them, who had warned the world how ‘every action counts’ and people should not do anything to increase their ‘carbon footprint’ as ‘the planet’s in danger and it’s up to each of us’, significantly expanding their footprint by using private jets. But Harry had an answer for his critics. He had to protect his family by that mode of travel. It was not a luxury. It was a necessity. Their circumstances were so special that commercial travel was simply impossible.
Still undetected by the press who were clearly not adept at discovering their every move, Meghan and Harry spent their first night in Palm Beach with Serena Williams in her villa. The following day they journeyed to Miami, where they joined 425 guests who included the discredited former Prime Minister Tony Blair, half Greek half Irish (Guinness) shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III and his new wife, the ex-Mrs Roman Abramovich Dasha Zhukova, Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez, Magic Johnson, British architect Lord Foster of Thames Bank, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, at the JP Morgan Alternative Investment Summit. This was held in a sprawling tent erected in the grounds of the five star 1 Hotel on Miami’s South Beach. To reaffirm the importance of those who were present, security was tighter than usual, with a six foot wall erected to prevent tourists who would be walking along the beach’s famous boardwalk from peering in.
This was the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first post-abdication engagement and they could not have chosen better in financial terms. Irrespective of whether they were actually earning money for the talk they were about to give, Meghan and Harry now had access to JP Morgan’s coffers. There was no question of them resisting the lure of that lucre hereafter, nor of spurning the offers of the other major financial institutions who were being lined up by their representatives to avail themselves of the soon-to-be post-royals’ services. This was what they had swapped the constraints of Britain for, and there was no doubt, from the way they behaved, that they were absolutely thrilled to be there.
Meghan’s friend Gayle King introduced her in the warm, exciting and friendly manner that a true professional has. Meghan then played on the audience’s heartstrings by revealing how very much she loves Harry, who is, of course, a wonderful man worthy of the love of a good woman, and how her love had saved him from the horrors of a royal life without financial independence. Having set the stage amongst this clutch of multimillionaires and billionaires, all of whom would be sure to appreciate the importance of money but equally understand the significance of royalty, which usually isn’t for sale or hire, hence the high premium placed upon its worth, she then introduced Harry. He gave an impassioned, highly emotional speech about the mental challenges he has had to face as a result of his mother’s death. Meghan is known to write her own speeches as well as Harry’s, and the end product was moving and held nothing back. Harry’s suffering was laid bare for all to see and empathise with. He hit home with how badly his mother’s death had affected him, resulting in his entering therapy aged 28. He talked a lot about his and Meghan’s decision to step down as senior royals, laying the blame at the feet of the trauma he had suffered and how he doesn’t want the same to happen to his family. In so doing, he introduced a non sequitur, for there are no parallels between Harry and Meghan’s situations and Diana’s or indeed Harry’s childhood circumstances, nor has there ever been any prospect that what happened to him as a result of her death happening to Archie. He then shared how painful separating from the Royal Family had been for him, but confessed that he had no regrets about the decision he had made, for this was the only way to preserve his family unit. In so doing, he implied that his marriage might not have survived without his sacrifice of giving up his country and royal life for what would essentially be a California life. He maintained that he and Meghan remain optimistic about the future, optimistic about being able to be financially independent, while working on the projects that mean a lot to them, and how they will be supporting the charities they believe in. To one canny observer, ‘it was a neatly packaged bundle, somewhat illogical but very emotional, all adding up to: Gimme the money in exchange for my class.’
Mark Borkowski was but one of the many commentators to question whether such conduct wouldn’t ultimately ‘cheapen’ and ‘tarnish’ the brand. ‘This shows how difficult it’s going to be.
