Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Just Handed A Win To Anti-Monarchists In The U.K.

Some may recall that Prince William and Prince Harry were reported to the U.K.’s Charity Commission for improper use of funds. Specifically, Prince William transferred funds from the Royal Foundation, which is a non-profit organization, to Prince Harry’s Sussex Royal foundation. However, as many know, Prince Harry agreed to shut down the Sussex Royal brand when he and his wife, Meghan Markle stepped down as senior members of the British Royal Family.

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By itself, there’s no impropriety there, but the Royal Foundation also transferred funds to Prince Harry’s for-profit travel project, Travalyst. In sum, the Royal Foundation transferred £145,000 to Sussex Royal for its setup and operation, and another £144,901 to Catalyst.

This led to an anti-monarchy organization called “Republic” to make an official complaint against Prince William and Prince Harry, suggesting that: “The Royal Foundation gave a grant of £145,000 to Sussex Royal and £144,901 to a non-charitable organization (Travalyst). In both instances, it appears the only rationale for the decision was the personal relationship between two patrons, the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge.”

The anti-monarchy organization went on to charge that: “Neither patrons are trustees of the Royal Foundation, so there is also a question mark over the independence of the trustees of the Royal Foundation. The Sussex Royal charity has since decided to close, and it is reported that they (William and Harry) will transfer all their funds to Travalyst. Again, this appears to be a personal decision by a trustee (the Duke of Sussex) to fund another of his projects, rather than to ensure the funds are being used for the original purposes for which they were donated.”

Of course, this led to a flurry of legal exchanges, which resulted in a lot of press for Republic. As Hannah Furness, an arts correspondent for the British publication, The Telegraph essentially noted … Prince Harry just handed Republic a major public relations win.

Specifically, Ms. Furness wrote that: “The way the Sussexes have made a meal of a complaint against their charity work by republicans is just giving the anti-monarchists publicity. It conjures the impression of personal hurt and the idea that, yet again, he is being cruelly targeted by critics who do not understand his true calling. The campaign group (Republic), which hardly makes a secret of its anti-monarchy aims – could not have hoped for better publicity.”

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Indeed, one has to wonder if perhaps this wasn’t an intentional gift on the part of Prince Harry to Graham Smith, the CEO of Republic. After all, Prince Harry and Meghan stepped back from the British Royal Family and have said repeatedly that they just want privacy and to lead normal lives. In fact, Prince Harry has asked to be introduced at speeches as “Just Harry” … hardly the behavior of someone who is a hundred percent on board with the use of royal titles.

In any case, whether intentional or not, Ms. Furness may be quite correct in asserting that Prince Harry just helped Republic bring its case to a wider audience while scrutinizing the actions of the royal household.