The British media has spent six years seething about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s powerful connections and charismatic celebrity personas. The media tries to scoff at Meghan and Harry for “using their royal titles,” which ends up giving up the game – Meghan and Harry are global superstars, regardless of titles. The titles are the only reason William and Kate have anything, because of a fluke of birth order, not because of their charisma or talent. Most recently, we saw Meghan and Harry invited to a ritzy fundraiser in Santa Barbara, hosted by Kevin Costner on his palatial estate, and they spent time with Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and other bigwigs. But according to Richard Eden at the Mail, the Sussexes are “desperately try to establish themselves as a Hollywood ‘power couple’” while William and Kate have appointed some TV producer to a charity. The seething here is quite something.
While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle desperately try to establish themselves as a Hollywood ‘power couple’, the Prince and Princess of Wales are quietly boosting their own showbusiness links. I can disclose that Prince William and Catherine have appointed the producer of hit BBC drama Call the Midwife as a director of their Royal Foundation. Dame Pippa Harris will also be a director of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund Trustee Company.
‘This is a big appointment,’ a royal source tells me. ‘Dame Pippa knows everyone and is an expert at getting things done.’
Dame Pippa, 56, founded the hugely successful film company Neal Street Productions with the Oscar-winning director Sir Sam Mendes 58. As well as creating Call the Midwife together, they have produced acclaimed films including Revolutionary Road, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, and most recently the World War I epic 1917, for which they received two Bafta awards and a Golden Globe. Dame Pippa is also a chairperson of Bafta, of which Prince William is the royal patron.
The Royal Foundation originally included Prince Harry and there were concerns that it would suffer after he and Meghan quit in 2020. In fact, the opposite seems to have been the case.
It enjoyed a surge in income the following year, to a staggering £11.78million. That’s almost double the £6.68 million raised in 2019, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were still involved. Last year’s income was £10.1million, according to newly published accounts.The foundation develops programmes and initiatives based on the Prince and Princess’s interests, particularly in the areas of early childhood, mental health and the environment.
Last year, Lord (William) Hague, the former Tory leader, quit politics to concentrate on his work as chairman of the Royal Foundation. He formed a warm relationship with Prince William and Catherine while he was Foreign Secretary, working with them to combat the illegal wildlife trade. As chairman of the foundation, Hague replaced Prince George’s godfather, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who was William’s right-hand man for 15 years.
[From The Daily Mail]
While Eden is obsessively comparing the Sussexes and the Waleses, I’m more interested in all of the weird drama with the senior positions at the Royal Foundation. In March 2022, William hired Amanda Berry to the position of CEO of The Royal Foundation. Berry used to be BAFTA CEO, only she was pushed out in a quiet and confusing drama in January 2022, something about how she was way too cozy with William and Kate. It sounded like BAFTA told her to leave because they had enough of her sycophantic behavior towards their lazy-ass BAFTA president (Peg). Now William has made a somewhat random TV producer the “director” of the Royal Foundation? Why is he hiring people from BAFTA and the British film/TV industry? Is it because he’s desperate to show that he also has entertainment-industry connections? And why can’t William and Kate keep senior staff, even at their foundation?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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