Prince Harry, Meghan Markle 'Detached from Reality,' Criticized for Another 'Vanity Project' During Coronavirus Crisis
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are in the hot seats again. This time, for unveiling details of their Archewell charitable foundation.
Why though?
This is because the two were deemed insensitive as they did the revealing as news emerged that Boris Johnson was fighting coronavirus in intensive care. Reactions ranged from incredulity and anger.
Some claimed that this is another "vanity project" for them.
According to one royal watcher, the two's decision to share some of their plans to launch a new not-for-profit foundation is ill-timed. They were even very enthusiastic about it, saying they were looking forward to getting started with the foundation, which will be the one that replaces their Sussex Royal brand.
The royal biographer Phil Dampier claimed that because they did so as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved into intensive care, people were naturally irked. It was an "appalling timing," he said.
The details were revealed after the Telegraph revealed that they registered for a trademark over "Archewell" in the United States last month. The trademark also shows what kinds of services people can expect from this charitable organization. The trademark covers educational materials, books, pens, clothing items and more.
On their part, the couple did say they were just compelled to make the revelations last night. This is because before they made the announcement, some fans took to Twitter to launch the hashtag "ArchieDay."
This is to celebrate Prince Harry and Meghan's son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor's first birthday, with a global campaign to raise funds to help vulnerable children affected by the coronavirus.
The Duke and Duchess told The Telegraph: 'Like you, our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic but faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be.'
Whatever their reasons though, people only noticed the fact that the details of Archewell plans emerged on the Telegraph's website around 10PM, just two hours after PM Johnson was confirmed to be needing intensive care as he battles with the dreaded virus.
This was taken as wanting the attention to shift to them when they are no longer in the spotlight.
In a statement last night, the couple claimed they have actually delayed the release of full details surrounding Archewell because of the Covid-19 crisis.
The fact that they even choose to still hide some of the details of their charity because they want to focus on the Covid-19 crisis did not even sit well with some already irate individuals.
According to Phil Dampier, an expert on the Royal family since he was writing about them for 33 years now, "it was the worst possible timing."
Speaking with Mail Online, he said he would have laid low until the whole pandemic is over, if he was Harry and Meghan. He said people are just really panicking about the virus and concerned with how to deal with it, so regardless of how good the cause of their foundation is, it simply does not look good.
Another royal commentator, Richard Fitzwilliams, claimed that it is possible that Harry and Meghan did not really intend for the non-profit organization to be public. They are based in Hollywood and had attracted substantial proposals for it so that it will be their own charity. He said the two were merely trapped to reveal certain details and that somehow, there really was an expectation for them to do something, as the crisis is raging on.
"At the moment they had obviously not intended for this to be public, The Telegraph unearthed the details," he explained. "Clearly with the world focused on the devastation the deadly pathogen COVID-19 is having, there is little current relevance in what has been uncovered," he added. "Then again it would be ridiculous to expect them to do nothing and these are the sort of plans that might be expected," he surmised.
The public is refusing to ignore what happened, though. An editor of Conservative Woman, Kathie Gyngell claimed that they should have waited. One Twitter user said that the announcement of their charity made Meghan and Harry appear "more detached from reality and the everyday struggles of people."
Couldn't they have waited? Deeply inappropriate time. #Meghan #Megxit #Archewell https://t.co/s1cNHARmZx — Kathy Gyngell (@KathyConWom) April 7, 2020
David Haigh, the ex-managing director of Leeds United Football Club said the world is too busy for their vanity project and yet the Duke and Duchess have not gotten the memo.
