A major new article from Vanity Fair magazine looks at the five years that have passed since Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior roles in the British royal family.
Despite initially inking major deals with streaming giant Netflix and podcaster Spotify, with a few exceptions, the couple is widely believed to have not produced any significant work.
Their rare success stories include the couple is controversial Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, in which they shared information about the royal family.
Prince Harry, 40, famously released a memoir Spare, in which he described his brother Prince William, 42, physically attacking him and describing his hair loss as “alarming baldness.”
Other projects weren't as successful: the couple released just one podcast through their Spotify deal: Meghan's Archetypes, which sought to dismantle stereotypes about women, including interviewing celebrity friends including Serena Williams.
Spotify and the couple's Archewell Audio released a statement confirming that they had mutually agreed to part ways in June 2023.
One of the claims in the article – which the Sussexes declined to comment on – was that some people who worked with Meghan ultimately needed therapy.
Here, FEMAIL looks at the top 10 revelations from Vanity Fair's brutal attack on Prince Harry and Meghan…
Vanity Fair (photo) has published an article about the five years since Mexgit committed itself to the Sussexes
1. 'Staff needed therapy after working with Meghan'
Although allegations of bullying of staff have been made by Meghan – and strenuously denied by the Duchess, the issue was raised again in the Vanity Fair piece.
According to two unnamed sources, after working on Archetypes, a colleague took a leave of absence after a three-episode stint.
This is before they left Gimlet altogether.
It is claimed that others described taking 'long breaks from work to escape scrutiny, quitting their jobs or undergoing long-term therapy after working with Meghan'.
The source told the writer that she believed that if Meghan chose to “acknowledge her own shortcomings or personal contributions to situations” instead of taking on a perpetual victim role, her perception could be “better.”
The couple was famously discredited by podcaster Bill Simmons, who worked with the Sussexes at Spotify. In June 2023, he called the couple “f******* grifters”, adding: “I'm going to have to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him . with a podcast idea. It's one of my best stories….F*** them. The scammers.'
2. 'They have become local villains'
Meghan Markle is pictured in her office at the home she shares with Prince Harry in Montecito (seen on August 21)
As a Montecitian told the newspaper, the former royal couple is known locally as the Prince and “the Starlet.”
And according to several more residents of the luxury celebrity enclave, the couple are considered “local thugs” by some.
Negatives attributed to the couple include increased visits from out-of-towners, being impossible to get a walk-in booking at Lucky's, a steakhouse the couple has visited several times, and the increased house prices.
3. 'Meghan didn't come up with the idea for Archetypes'
The article also claimed that Meghan didn't come up with the idea for the series during the couple's deal with Spotify, in which they delivered just one project – Archetypes.
Vanity Fair quotes a source who says that the idea for the Sussexes' solo creation Archetypes did indeed come from another employee.
However, it was noted, the 'employee did not own any intellectual property'.
Because Archewell Audio took so long to handle production, Spotify's studio Gimlet was brought in, meaning production was more expensive and required more resources from the podcast giant than expected.
4. 'Meghan “reparents” Harry'
A source familiar with the couple described their dynamic as Meghan being in a “caretaker and enabler” role, in which she is the one who “makes things happen.”
They noted that Harry has changed since he entered the relationship, and said he was more likely to walk into the palace press office, where he may have seemed a little bored while asking questions, but also enthusiastic.
However, they added that they cannot imagine that today's Harry would be willing to engage with the media “in search of purpose.”
They concluded, “I don't want to say, oh, it's an Oedipus thing or anything, but it kind of feels like she's re-raising him in a way.”
5. 'Harry didn't 'understand' the implications of the tell-all book
One source claimed that Prince Harry simply did not understand the implications of publishing his memoirs at such a difficult time
A source told Vanity Fair they believed Prince Harry simply didn't believe selling a tell-all book about his famous private family would have the impact it did.
This, they added, was especially impactful because the tome was published in the middle of the PR crisis between the royal family and the Sussexes – a crisis that had been going on for years.
They added that they wondered whether Harry understood the “power of the written word and the power of the story” while working on the project.
6. 'They are the most entitled, dishonest people on earth'
An otherwise disgruntled Montecitan described the couple as “the most entitled, dishonest people on earth.”
They added that although the Sussexes claimed they left England to avoid media attention, they seem to continually attract media attention in the United States.
7. 'I don't think she didn't know she had to bow to the queen'
Much was made of Meghan's theatrical bow during Netflix's Harry & Meghan docuseries, but some don't believe the former actress wouldn't have known she was supposed to bow to the Queen
Fashion and culture commentator Tom Fitzgerald, who also lives in the Sussexes' home town of Montecito, recalled a story in which a waiter at a restaurant told him that Meghan had called the eatery before they ate there to ask how private the seats were. was.
Because of her reputation for research and planning, Fitzgerald told Vanity Fair that he did not find it “particularly credible” that she “went to meet the royal family completely cold, without any investigation” – adding that his opinion is based on information Meghan shared about herself.
8. 'It's Huckerism: They're trying to cash in on everything'
Another project that came under fire in the article was Meghan's brand American Riviera Orchard.
According to Vanity Fair, it is in fact Santa Barbara that is now known as the American Riviera – with all Montecitans interviewed for the piece saying they had not heard their area referred to that way.
One resident said: 'It's that kind of business,” says one resident. “It's just finding any way you can to monetize something.”
9. 'They Had No Ideas'
Despite the great opportunities presented to the Sussexes upon their arrival in California in the form of Netflix and Spotify deals, they failed to deliver consistent, successful content.
According to a former Spotify employee, they were different from other famous podcasters, who “turn on the microphone and talk.”
Instead, the former employee said, the couple wanted “a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas.”
10. 'Harry was 'challenging' to deal with'
Prince Harry (pictured in September 2023) was described as 'challenging to deal with' by a former Spotify employee
A former Spotify employee described Prince Harry as 'challenging to deal with'.
They added that while the couple was interviewing someone for a job, Prince Harry gave an air of 'why would I do this?'
The employee wondered, “Didn't Spotify pay you a lot of money to do this?”
A person who knows the couple added that they believed Harry would be happy if Meghan made all the money.
Instead, they believe, Harry would prefer not to do that, and instead focus on charity work.
