Meghan Markle quickly returned to Hollywood after leaving the royal fold, but was that always a part of her plan?
"She [Meghan] would not have been happy with the ultimately quiet or truly independent/non-royal lives that William and Harry's cousins actually live," Jane Barr wrote in her From Berkshire to Buckingham newsletter. "Looking back to Megxit, Harry was not just the grandson of the Queen, the same relationship all his cousins had to the sovereign, he was the son of the future King."
During the Sussexes' 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the spouses hinted at wanting to have royal lives comparable to Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, but Harry's place in the line of succession made it difficult.
"William and Harry were — from birth — preeminent royals, while their cousins, although celebrated, surely, began as secondary royals and only continued to fade as the years went by," Barr speculated. "Harry seems so bitter about being the spare, but he has always been quite senior to his cousins, and treated accordingly."
In 2020, Meghan and Harry secured several lucrative contracts in the entertainment industry with companies such as Netflix, Spotify and Penguin Random House.
"Meghan wanted to take her HRH and her title and be a superstar in her own sphere on the international stage," Barr added, saying this would be "wholly separate from the control of The Crown."
OK! previously reported royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams claimed the Sussexes' recent unofficial tour of Nigeria helped promote the Sussex brand.
"I think they will be very satisfied with it because it was a private visit that had all the trappings of a royal visit," Fitzwilliams told GB News, referring to their time in Nigeria. "So in reality, people conflated the two, and it had enormous press coverage."
"They had huge international coverage so what this gives them is an opportunity to build the value of their brand internationally by doing this again," Fitzwilliams continued. "Now that they have beefed up their communication team, I would expect them to do this again."
Harry teased that he plans on taking on more international opportunities, as it will help the Sussexes advocate for causes important to them.
"This puts them much more into the A-lister bracket," he stated. "What they had done before was not that much or that impressive."
While in Nigeria, the American-based royals were able to promote the Invictus Games and the Archewell Foundation.
“It is hugely important for us to meet directly with people, supporting our causes and listening, in order to bring about solutions, support, and positive change," Harry told a publication. "There’s only so much one can do from home and over Zoom, so we look forward to traveling more because the work matters."
"Whether it’s the Archewell Foundation, Invictus, or any of our other causes, there will always be reasons to meet the people at the heart of our work," he continued.
Aside from their professional goals, the parents gushed over their new lives in California while traveling around West Africa.
"We’re just doing great. And happy to be watching our family grow up and evolve. Of course, I'm happy. We're really happy," Meghan told an outlet.
"You know what Africa means to me over the years. It is a very, very special place, and to be able to include Nigeria now [in the Invictus Games], I’m very happy," Harry chimed in. "That experience of knowing what life, post-injury, is like gives people so much hope. And hope, hope, hope is a huge part of this."