Prince Harry and Meghan Markle face their 'biggest challenge' as they prepare to move back to the UK, with a PR expert warning that they risk 'becoming irrelevant' and urging them to change their approach to 'rebuild goodwill' with the British public.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are days away from relocating to Harry's home country, with their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, set to start the new school year in the UK in September. While some royal commentators have raised concerns about the move, others see it as an opportunity for the couple to rebuild their relationship with the Royal Family if they act carefully.
PR expert advises 'stop explaining themselves'
According to PR expert Mayah Riaz, Harry and Meghan could rehabilitate their image in the UK, but only if they make major changes to their day-to-day work and stop levelling accusations against the Royal Family. Speaking to the Mirror, Riaz said: "I believe they can, but I'd say that it would require a very different PR strategy from the one we have seen from them in recent years. The biggest opportunity for Harry and Meghan is to not try to convince us to love them again, but giving us a reason to feel neutral or positive about them."
She added: "They probably cannot PR their way back into being universally popular, and I don't think that should be the objective. What they can do is gradually rebuild goodwill through consistency, restraint and work that feels meaningful rather than heavily managed." Riaz continued: "The Sussex brand has been built around telling their side of the story, but they may find a more powerful PR move would be to stop explaining yourself and simply let your actions do the talking."
Popularity remains low
The most recent YouGov polls place Harry and Meghan's favourability at 33 percent and 22 percent respectively, with figures remaining low since they quit their royal roles and moved to America in 2020. Although their popularity has increased marginally in recent months, Riaz believes the couple have a complicated relationship with the British public: "I think it is a mixture of anger, fatigue and indifference, and from a PR perspective that is actually more complicated than outright dislike."
She explained: "There will always be a section of the public who remain very emotionally invested in Harry and Meghan, whether positively or negatively. But I think there is also a growing sense of fatigue around the Sussexes. When every appearance, interview or project seems like it's a debate about the Royal Family, people may feel that they have heard the story before. The biggest danger for Harry and Meghan now is not necessarily being disliked. It is becoming irrelevant."
Forging a new path
Riaz believes the Duke and Duchess can succeed in their UK ventures and rebuild a more positive relationship with the public if they forge their own paths away from their royal connections and stop airing grievances about the Firm. "The Royal Family is obviously the elephant in the room," she said. "It is extremely difficult to build a completely separate celebrity identity when so much public interest in Harry and Meghan still comes from their relationship with the institution they left."
She added: "There is also a perception among some members of the public that there has been too much focus on grievances and not enough distance from them. Whether Harry and Meghan agree with that, perception is almost irrelevant from a PR point. Perception becomes reality when it is repeated often enough. I feel that if they genuinely want to change the narrative, they need to demonstrate that they have moved into a new chapter rather than continually revisiting the previous one."
Individual credibility and meaningful work
Riaz suggests the couple continue their charity and entertainment work, branch out further, and take on more roles as individuals rather than together, without focusing on rehabilitating their image. She said: "I think we will see them continue to diversify their work, but I would hope they are not approaching it as a traditional 'rebrand'. Rebrands can look incredibly calculated when they involve public figures. Harry probably has more potential to reconnect with the British public through causes where his credibility is already established, particularly veterans, mental health and charitable work. Meghan has the more complicated challenge because she needs to establish what her identity is outside of being Harry's wife and a former member of the Royal Family."
She continued: "The strongest strategy for both would be to build individual credibility while occasionally coming together, rather than constantly presenting themselves as a package." As the British public watches the couple's move to the UK, Riaz advised them to keep their heads down and engage in meaningful work rather than worrying about the public narrative. "Ultimately, I think Harry and Meghan's biggest PR challenge is that they are still trying to control a narrative that has become bigger than them," she said. "The public does not necessarily need another explanation from the Sussexes. They need to see something different. The strongest rebrand for Harry and Meghan may actually be to stop trying so hard to rebrand."
