Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 'Try Too Hard' to Convince Critics They Lead With Compassion

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry infamously left their senior-level royal positions in 2020, and since then, the Sussexes have attempted to become respected Hollywood producers and humanitarians. Although the couple managed to quickly secure various lucrative contracts, public relations expert Laura Perkes thinks critics aren't willing to change their perception of the duo.

Perkes discussed the Sussexes' image in an interview, and she shared her professional commentary.

“Harry and Meghan have built a reputation that they’re never going to be able to run away from, therefore the media and the public are always going to have a perception of the couple and the intention behind the decisions they make,” Perkes told an outlet.

In June, Meghan and Harry's multimillion-dollar deal with Spotify fell apart, and the Sussexes' projects unrelated to their time in The Firm failed to match the success of Spare and Harry & Meghan.

“Sadly, a lot of what they do seems to be calculated, to give the illusion that they’re living by their organization’s tagline: leading the way with compassion, but the public and the media don’t buy it,” she said.

“They always seem to try too hard and then miss the mark," the businesswoman added.

Perkes later alluded to the Sussexes' recent Halloween outing being another opportunity to control the world's perception of them.

“It may be that they wanted to create a family tradition, taking Archie and Lilibet trick or treating, to show that they’re ‘just a normal family’ doing normal things, but to me it feels like a PR stunt in disguise. It’s the image they want to portray," she continued.

“The reason they stepped down as working royals was to have more freedom away from the scrutiny of the media eye, yet they want their ‘normal family life’ captured by photographers, no doubt to achieve more positive publicity,” she noted.

Despite her concerns, Perkes applauded Harry's Invictus Games event, but she wondered if the initiative was protecting the Sussex brand.

She admitted that Harry "has done some amazing things" with the Invictus Games, but she believes he's "using these platforms to boost his own personal image and reputation."

Perkes' words parallel the thoughts of conservative commentator Candace Owens, who recently recommended the duke and duchess relocate to Canada to relaunch their careers.

“I’m a big believer that this issue can only be solved if they agree to move to Canada," Owens told GB News. “I don’t think that either America or the U.K. should have to put up with this any longer."

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The television presenter later claimed the Sussexes' popularity recently declined.

“There’s no question that their stock has degraded very quickly over time," she explained. "You know, the press was very favorable to them when they first made the move, and I think that can largely be attributed to what was going on politically at that moment."

“It was the rise of BLM, Meghan was very happy to use that to her advantage," she noted. "There is no question that the appetite for Harry and Meghan has completely collapsed over time. I can tell I just in my show and I can tell it just in my reaction to it when I see a piece of news about them, I'm just not inclined to click it anymore."

Perkes spoke to The Mirror.