Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s absence from Oprah Winfrey’s recent birthday celebrations signals the Sussexes are “increasingly unpopular in the US”, said Washington-based commentator Nile Gardiner. “They are already pariahs in the UK,” the royal enthusiast wrote, but “their transatlantic campaign of hate and lies against the Royal Family has backfired spectacularly”.
The Sussexes’ failure to attend Oprah’s 69th party over the weekend has fueled speculation over Hollywood’s appetite for the couple following their recent media adventures.
Oprah’s star-studded party included the likes of Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Sharon Stone.
It remains unclear why Harry and Meghan missed the event, but there’s a growing perception that US opinion is turning against the couple.
Recent polling by Newsweek dealt a stinging blow to the Sussexes, with Meghan found to be less popular among Americans than Camilla, Queen Consort.
READ MORE: Palace keeping review into Meghan bullying claims private to avoid ‘fanning the flames’
Secondly, Harry was critical of Camilla, his stepmother, in his memoir and the interviews around it.
Harry accused her of leaking stories about him to fuel her public rehabilitation as she went from “the other woman” in Charles’ first marriage to his wife and the Queen Consort.
Harry, 38, wrote in Spare: “I had complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who, I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.”
The Duke did not fare much better in the polling, with his favourability rating dropping 45 points from +38 in December to -7 in January.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle may have turned down Oprah Winfrey invite for fear of ‘further public scorn’
Overall, 44 percent of Americans surveyed in the poll said they felt Harry should not have revealed private family conversations in Spare, compared with 26 percent who backed the prince’s decision.
Anecdotal evidence also suggests US opinion towards the Sussexes is souring.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent “whingeathon” has led to dwindling support in the US, according to a royal author Valentine Low, who has just returned from a trip stateside.
The ‘Courtiers’ author has said conversations on the ground support polling data indicating Americans are growing tired of the Sussex narrative.
“I get the impression, having been in the States, they have lost some of that popularity,” he told Express.co.uk, describing their accounts of life in the Firm as a “whingeathon”.
Low was in the US promoting his book ‘Intrigue, Ambition and the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor’, at the time.
The journalist broke the story about the allegations Meghan bullied royal staff before they left the UK in 2020.
These claims were strongly denied by the Sussexes.
