As we’ve seen, the Duchess of Sussex twirls on her haters by calmly talking about voting rights and the need to get young women out to vote in this election cycle. Meghan has done several interviews and Zoom videos about that subject in the past month, much to the chagrin of racist white British peeps. As an American woman watching another American woman do these interviews and videos, I feel like Meghan is merely engaging in the civil discourse as a public figure, doing what she can as someone who knows that whatever she says or doesn’t say will be picked up and widely disseminated by the media. But did you know that there might be a nefarious reason for Meghan’s get-out-the-vote work? Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair comes thisclose to saying that Meghan is just doing GOTV work because she and Harry don’t have any paid speaking engagements:
Last week Meghan urged American women to use their vote to make a difference. While she’s faced some criticism for getting into politics, even from a non-partisan stance, sources close to the former actress say she intends to continue speaking publicly about the election in order to raise awareness while remaining politically neutral. The Duchess has never named the political candidate she plans to vote for, but her disdain for Donald Trump is well known.
The importance of voting and women’s rights has become a key theme of the Duchess’s work, along with her and Harry’s focus on civil rights and the Black Lives Matter movement. In addition to their commitment to mental health awareness, the couple are said to be pitching ideas for TV shows around these issues.
“The focus is on projects and campaigns that mean something to them and are in line with their views, so that includes civil rights, women empowerment and movements like BLM,” said a source close to the couple. While there has been anticipation that the couple will take on public speaking engagements in order to make money Harry and Meghan are currently focused on their campaign work, and working out how to monetize some of their projects.
“They have to earn a living and clearly there isn’t a market for after-dinner talking right now, so the public speaking is on hold for the moment and they are exploring other avenues,” added the source.
It has been reported that the Sussexes have been pitching TV projects to numerous networks and VF.com has learned they are being pitched to “on a regular basis.” But Meghan is not exactly angling to get back in front of the camera. “The focus is on production at the moment and I can see them making a series rather than Meghan starring in front of the camera,” adds the source. Book projects as well as TV shows are also said to be on the couple’s agenda as they seek to launch successful careers outside of the royal family.
The Brits are obsessed with the “after-dinner talking” aka paid speeches, but I always felt like the paid speeches were never going to be their main source of income anyway. They can demand a high price for speeches but only if they keep their allure of exclusivity, meaning no one will want to pay them a million dollars to speak at an important Billionaire’s Club if they’re also making $20K-a-night speeches to dentists’ conventions. Nicholl is actually slyly insinuating – via this source who sounds quite British – that Meghan is only making these free appearances with GOTV campaigns because no one will pay her to make a speech. When really, Meghan is just a socially and civil-minded American who wants people to vote. By doing all of these free appearances on GOTV videos, she’s actually driving down her own allure of exclusivity and driving down her price for paid speeches. That’s how patriotic she is.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, WENN, social media.
Well I could have put 2 and 2 together and written this story just from what I have read here. Didn’t Obama sign a maga million deal with Netfilx? Didn’t we know they wanted to model after the O’s? This was always part of the plan, IMHO. Clearly no insider knowledge was needed here.
You have put 2 and 2 together and written 80% of Finding Freedom.
I do no think anyone knows what is really go on with Sussexes.
Honestly Sussex school did put two and two together and managed to write all of finding freedom there was nothing new in it apart from… Honestly Sussex Squad DID put two and two together and manage to write all of finding freedom lol, there was nothing new in it apart form… yeah, nothing it just confirmed our sources and suspicions.
My theory is that they have put their paid public speeches on “hold” because she is about to give birth 🙂
While that would be delightful, we all saw the photos of her from last week handing out school supplies.
I doubt it unfortunately especially from the pictures last week, and I suspect she faced so much trauma from giving birth and being pregnant last time and being bullied that she’s going to want to rest a bit for three years even if she did have to go through fertility treatments next time. I can see them both wanting to be in an extremely stable place before they have another child, possibly after the one year review? Although I have no doubt they will.
Why are they so certain she is not getting paid? A lot of the events she’s been in have corporate sponsors. This sounds like Katie “know nothing” Nichols fishing for information. She and the Rota didn’t know they bought a house, now they are claiming to know what’s in Sussexes’ checking account.
Nicholl doesn’t know WTF she’s talking about. I don’t know why Vanity Fair give her a platform.
I kinda think some sort of payday went into the decision to buy the house when they did.
I agree with Lizzie. There’s already a deal somewhere. Katie NIcholl has ZERO Sussex sources and is simply giving palace talking points.
The fact that they were able to obtain a mortgage sure implies that. Lenders are generally not going to give you a mortgage without proof of stable cash flow. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have already signed a production deal and are just waiting to announce it.
@ Sid as much as I agree with that latter half. People always forget banks WON’T lend you a mortgage unless you have astable income as a NORMAL person. Plenty of millionaires and billionaires don’t have jobs at all and are retired, but are able to have a mortgage and have property after property based on their savings and projected investments on such, e.g aristos and ‘rich kids’
I think paid speaking gigs are only one part of their plan. I think starting a production house was always part of their plan. Hell, they could start a YouTube channel covering issues they care about too and make money off of it.
They have SO many options and opportunities to chose from. The RRs are just desperate to find out what they are.
Ooh yes! A production company that makes documentaries/ provides grants for representation is very visible to me. A YouTube channel tho, not so much.
I mean ofcourse there is a pandemic, and I cant remember the agency they signed with but based on their clientele they wont be speaking at just any corporate events.
Why do people assume all their money is going to come from paid speeches? And why on earth are people so obsessed with how they earn their living?
I mean, I know the answer, but geez. Let’s talk more about the finances of the royals who are actually on the sovereign grant still.
I want to know how tf Edward and Sophie afford Bagshot Park. It looks like a huge money pit.
Right? I think I remember reading somewhere that the queen allowed them to sign like a 200 year lease for something like that for 1k a year or something ridiculously cheap. I don’t remember the specifics, but it was just another example of welfare for the rich for these people.
150 years for £5 million, after the initial 4 million split between Crown Estate funds and Edward’s personal funds.
Whoa, there’s a Guardian article from 2000 about it. The Ministry of Defense paid 1.8 million to renovate and repair the property but the work was actually 600k more than that. Edward refused to pay and the company that did the work went out of business. Why was the Ministry of Defense paying to renovate Edward and Sophie’s house? WTF? This is when Edward still had his production company and was not a fulltime royal.
Another article, this one from the Times in 2005, puts Andrew’s weekly rent at 250 pounds for Royal Lodge and Edward’s weekly rent at 192 pounds.
I’ve read that the Army requisitioned the house from1942-46 for the Auxiliary Territorial Service to use as a Staff College. After that it was offered by George VI to the Royal Army Chaplains Department as a Chaplains Depot and Church House, which they used from 1947-96. Shortly after, the Wessexes took over the tenancy ( from Wikipedia). Perhaps it was quite run down after 50+ years of Army use and Edward felt that the Defense Ministry should share the refurbishment expenses. (Just a theory).
I read somewhere fairly recently (but I can’t vouch for the info) that he rents out stable space and makes a pretty penny that way.
Apparently they rent their stables out for £1 million a year, breed horses and sell dinners/acsess amongst other things.
@Qwietstorm. The article mentioned gold plated faucets and towel rails and Edward being heavily involved in the renovations as why it went 600k above budget. Those are personal fittings that cost more and should have been paid for by Edward (the Cambridges and the Sussexes said they did this). It seems only partly that the Ministry of Defense was returning the home to working order and more that Edward used the money as his budget for his redecorating.
Nobody complained when the Wessexes kept their “day jobs”. Edward wrote books when he had that production company and gave speeches in various countries. The same standards apparently are not supposed to apply to Meghan and Harry.
The obsession with their money is weird. Especially since Harry has a quite a huge inheritance. Multiple large sums of money that have been invested for him over the years. Even his army paychecks were invested. They aren’t living on tax payers or stealing, so let them live and worry about their own finances.
Yeah exactly lol! And they keep forgetting that once the Queen dies he will have access and dividends of her 500 million private money and assets along with Charles’s not that far behind. (And also Philip, but I’m not sure of his private investment portfolio is combined with the Queens) Realistically his money only has to last him 3-4 years.
ITA I live in a Commonwealth country. I’d ~love~ a breakdown of the BRFs annual expenditure and how much it comes from public funding & subsided rent.
Also I find it real creepy that the BRF & British Government have the literal bones of Indigenous Australians in their museum collections. (They aren’t the only ones doing so and they could lead by example if they returned them all). 32,000+ sacred objects are stored within British institutions. For DECADES Aboriginal communities have made it very clear that they want their ancestors and sacred objects returned.
Anyhow, I guess all this shaming & blaming of Meghan proves how extreme their racism & misogynoir is. They could leverage their influence & power for good. Instead they repeat the same mistakes, help Andrew avoid criminal justice and throw Meghan under the bus to deflect from their flaws.
I can’t believe Vanity Fair pays Nichols for these articles. They could get a summer intern to do what Nichols does, and the intern would probably find a better angle. If I was the VF editor I would send this tripe back and ask her to come up with something that wasn’t based on previously published information or else her contract won’t be renewed.
Katie likes to pretend she has an in with the Sussexes. She has nothing. Less than nothing. H&M won’t even acknowledge her existence. She is only a paid liar, nothing more.
She has a pretty good gig with these water-is-wet-the-sky-is-blue articles. I, myself, have a preference for Emily Andrews because she at least consults a crystal ball for hers. Very novel.
Emily Andrews has been downright cruel to Harry but I love your humour. They’re all hacks, all of them.
Yes, she is awful. I haven’t read anything of hers since 2019. I did the British media ban before the Sussexes
Yes, it does sound like the “source” is British perhaps it’s Katie herself. I can’t believe Vanity Fair is paying her for this “info”. Meghan is just picking up where she left off. Her work with UN Women was centered around female political participation so I don’t get why Katie and the rest of the British press are surprised that she is involved in encouraging women, in her own country, to vote. This obsession with their bank account is weird btw. I think Harry and Meghan buying a house probably means that they have already signed a big deal and that the money didn’t come from speaking engagements.
Just a friendly reminder that these people didn’t know the Sussexes had bought a home and moved to Santa Barbara for more than a month.
I like you, Aurora. The shade is delicious. 🙂
I’d also like to point out that Meghan and Harry aren’t hurting for money and are in no rush.
Meghan has her residuals coming in from Suits and those cheesy Hallmark movies annually which are probably in the high 6 figure/low 7 figure range.
And every time they quote Harry’s estimated worth, it’s from inheritances he got 20 years ago. Money he has most likely never touched and has probably grown 2-3 times over by now through interest and smart investments.
It’s not like they are fretting and penny pinching. I swear these RRs seem to be conditioned to believe that the royals can’t survive without living off of granny’s money or the taxpayers. Like they are on welfare. Although Kensington Palace is basically a government housing project for titled royals with no income. 🤔
People like to pretend the Sussexes live a scandalous life and be appalled by them instead of speaking about the people who live scandalous life and we should be appalled by in that family.
Meghan is worth about 3M and Harry is worth about 30M, even if they put it in an old school CD, they would make enough in interest annually to pay their mortgage.
He was worth over $50 million like, two decades ago after his mother and great-grandmother died and left him substantial inheritances. In fact, the Queen Mother actually bequeathed more to him than William with the understanding that William, as the heir, wouldn’t need it. His father paid for his education at Eton, he was in the Army and then he earned an annual income through the BRF for his work, so the initial inheritances have probably doubled or even tripled, based on interest and investment yields.
With or without the BRF, he’s not hurting.
Meghan’s net worth keeps going a this rate by next she’ll be worth $50. So we’re to believe that she made the same amount in her last season of Suits. Along with working w/UN and other charities for free, she made nothing for her her capsule collections w/reitman, she made nothing from her blog and nothing from her speeches/appearances
So I was curious about you mentioning residuals and googled it. It’s hard to estimate them, and a lot depends on the contract, whether the actor has ownership, etc. Given that this show was Meghan’s first regular series, and she wasn’t one of the leads, I think high six figures/low seven figures in residuals is very optimistic guess. The show isn’t even in reruns anymore.
But the point stands that they’re doing fine without the speech income.
Suits is streaming on Prime, which I think is the new “reruns” in this day and age. I don’t know how it works, but I doubt Amazon gets to feature the entire show without the production/actors getting something for it.
It’s on Peacock streaming. I just watched the first four seasons.
The first two seasons are enjoyable mid-level entertainment but by the fourth season … uh, it’s a trip to say the least. The writers love making the characters say G*damned. All the characters sound the same. Basically, the show falls off a cliff in the later seasons. Amazing wardrobe though.
Oh she’s making something off the streaming. Given that her net worth is reported to be $3 million (ie, she wasn’t making “Friends” money), and was reportedly making $450k/year on Suits (per Town and Country magazine and other sources), she’s not making the same annual income in residuals via streaming.
Mumbles – Suits is streaming on Metflix in the U.K./Ireland and is consistently in the top 10.
I used to work for an organization that helped collect and disperse international royalties on television and film. Trust me, the money is substantial.
We will agree she’s not making “Friends” money but her show gets played INTERNATIONALLY on MULTIPLE platforms. She was on it for 7 seasons. Trust me, it adds up quite nicely. And it’s probably got even more cache now that she’s a “princess”.
suits is still streams on Netflix in the UK and I think Amazon Prime. Both companies pay a base amount for access and then with provide money for residues every time it’s streamed.
The E Channel had a marathon of Suits shows a month or two ago, they run it every now and then.
Here’s a sample of things media didn’t seem to know until after the fact or were revealed by the couple or their project partners directly: move from Canada to LA, volunteering with Homeboy, move from Tyler’s house to their new place, volunteering with Baby2Baby, Meghan’s contact Gloria Steinheim (and from the conversations I’m guessing they’ve been in touch for a while), Harry’s involvement in this Netflix Paralympics documentary. It’s pretty obvious the media know very little about their current moves since the move away from leaky courtiers and most of these reports are just guess work.
What I find interesting is that Harry is the one (I believe) filming this Meghan/Gloria interview. If you listen to the ‘Gloria Steinem’ video excerpt (or at least the one I listened to online last night) you can see Meghan at some point look at the camera and ask “Are you excited?” to which a man with a British accent answers “Very excited. You can’t see behind the mask, but I’m excited”. I immediately thought it was Harry. I believe the Sussexes might be smartly using these ‘home made’ interviews as portfolio pieces to showcase their production skills.
No it was a professional filming. Harry may have been there, though.
at the end of the clip it has the photographer’s name
Volunteering is a little easier when you have $40 million to your name.
Not volunteering is much easier. This is their life – they could be shilling for Krispy Kreme donuts and making far more. Methinks you are a troll.
Candy is a troll. It’s been called out before, but keeps coming back for the attention apparently.
It’s easy when you don’t have $40 million too, you just need a heart.
It’s a little harder for the single mom working 2 jobs minimum wage though.
I always wonder about people like you
1) Those who think you have to be homeless to understand homelessness
2) You have to be poor to have empathy
3) You have to be poor to understand those who have less
4) You have to be a woman to understand the plight of some women
etc….
Those people never have any concrete solutions; but have mastered the art of deriding those who TRY to make changes!
And? So what if they have money that allows them to work on behalf of others.
Better than sitting on their asses doing nothing, I’d say.
I’m saying this is the bare minimum for anyone superwealthy.
are you sure, cause I see bare minimum from Harry’s brother.
That’s what i said!?¿ So why is Kate fining it so hard, when she through marriage should be worth even more?
Troll
Not a troll, been here over 10 years. One of CBs and Kaiser’s biggest fans, actually.
So why hasn’t Kate started already and why she struggling to meet some of her charities more than once every 8 years??
I don’t know, I am not Kate.
Katie nichol
She did not know anything but being paid to talk nonsense just because she sound british coming out of her butholes( i am sure she has more than one but holes.)
I believe one of the benefits of these perhaps free speaking appearances is that it proves that she does have an audience, is a huge draw, brings loads of attention and money to her partners. These engagements could be building her resume. Apparently she’s doing them because she has always been engaged and supportive of her causes but right now it’s also proving her worth to prospective clients of the PR firm
Exactly!! Excellent point!
To all the people bitching about Harry and Meghan bringing the camera to their volunteering efforts like Baby2Baby or Homeboy industries. That’s the whole point!! To give these organizations free press and a boost in donations.
I’m sure people are watching the numbers. The google stats, the website traffic, uptick in donations, memberships, volunteers, etc… of every organization they have made appearances for.
RRs and Kensington Palace can PR spin shit until they are blue in the face, but if there aren’t real, tangible results, it’s all a bunch of hot air.
Look at Kate. Several of her charities have gone under. And several of the fashion brands she has worn/championed have filed for bankruptcy. She’s clearly not clicking like she used to when she first married William. I’m sure she has noticed and it’s killing her.
Has anybody told KN that there’s a global pandemic going on? All this woman does is talk utter rubbish.
The money is in production, content and IP. That’s only sensible what the Sussexes are doing. I don’t… see a problem, tbh. In addition, they aren’t hurting for cash. In addition, Meghan is only doing what an engaged concerned citizen does when it comes to politics. Good for her, really.
Only idiots will believe katie who didn’t know the name of their dog, their move from Canada to US , then to santa Barbara suddenly know their plans. Katie is an embarrassment and vanity needs to have a talk with her
Yeah, Radhika Jones needs to lay the big smackdown on this drivel.
I love it that they (BM) know nothing. The fact that people continue to pay these reporters to write fan fiction is sad and annoying, but doubtful H/M are concerned with all the control trolling the media does with regards to all things them. Since they no longer need to engage with them in a professional way, they just treat them like buzzing flies down the way, only annoying when you remember that they are there, but then your mind just naturally blocks them out.
“After-dinner talking” sounds like a pejorative. Why not say “speeches.”
Does Katie Nicholls actually get the concept of work? Has she even attended a TED talk or gone to the 92nd street Y or City Arts and Lectures? She acts like she has no idea what speakers do or how many paid speakers do their work these days. Does she really think they’ll be doing after dinner talks like Ms. Maisel riffing at a dinner party? She makes herself sound so ignorant.
This Nicholls woman is such a troll. She really is doing two things here. Trying to diminish and undermine what Meghan is going in regards to the voting drives and BLM etc. Basically calling it busy work until they get a paid gig. Also, she’s still sniffing around their wallet, even though she knows nothing. This woman has a major blind spot (cough – racist) regarding the Sussexes and she just can’t wrap her mind around the fact that someone who is in their position can actually advocate for a cause they genuinely care about, and that they can actually work, like really work, for living. She has no credibility, Harry named her in his law suit, and she thinks not raising your son to be a sexist douche means you’re gender-fluid. She really is a deplorable person and a crap “ journalist “. She has not written one accurate article about them in the longest time because she doesn’t know anything. I think that the editor in chief of Vanity Fair has either no say in keeping her on staff, or just files her work under stupid fluff and ignores it because it gets little traction. Meanwhile, they put Viola Davis and the late Breonna Taylor on their covers ( Oprah did it first!) , but continuously disrespects this one particular Black woman in their articles.
I think the royal reporters know that Meghan and Harry are never coming back so their trying their hardest to damage their reputations in American . Like they did in the U.K the British tabloids are acting like a bitter exes who see their exes thriving and survive without them . For all the talks about how the Sussex’s need the royal family or that the Sussex’s are irrelevant to me it’s looks their doing a lot better then the royals family . Vogue really needs to fired this Katie person she has no idea what she talking about she just trying her hardest to break into the American media to make money off the Sussex’s since the two bland boring royals that she completely obsessed with don’t sell a paper .
Nicholl is just dogwhistling her racism again, looking for clicks, which is interesting since VF has shifted its focus significantly toward Civil Rights and racial justice, particularly via this month’s guest edited issue with Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Honestly, it falls kind of flat and tone deaf, given the Duchess’s well known commitment to these issues prior to becoming a member of the BRF.
So she’s promoting the issues that matter to her. So what? She’s an American on American soil doing what Americans do: We talk about our shit non-stop because that’s what we left the British empire to do.
Nicholl played a significant role in running the Sussexes off, so deal with it.
That top outfit may have been my all time favorite outfit Meghan wore.
I don’t understand why it’s so terrible for Meghan & Harry to want to produce content for the screen or TV. Harry’s uncle Prince Edward has a production company that creates documentaries mainly about the Royal family and no one blinks an eye. Haters are going to hate,
it is funny since they are no longer senior royals and can keep their schedule as private as they would like the British press can only comment after they have already committed the awful crime of support BLM or equality for women or a charity event. In one month they have already done more work then Cambridge have done in 5 months 😷🤦🏽♀️
I don’t think he has that company anymore. He was made to stop I believe.
In relation to the the Sussexes, if you are only hearing about it, it’s already happened. Clearly Harry has learnt to operate by stealth over the years and keeps his shit tight. That’s why there are no leaks now.
As for KN, I have zero respect for her. There’s so much potential to legitimise that Vanity Fair royal beat. But with her in situ, it operates like a tabloid.
I hope nobody clicks this woman’s articles. She’s the worst. At least other RRs come out with their bigotry and utter hatred for Meghan, but this one, she’s the most dangerous with her fake “expert” title spreading lies and malicious information like the protocol breach stories which to this day follow Meghan. She is also just like piers Morgan unethical and is named in harry’s hacking case.
I use CB so I don’t have to click her disgusting articles and I thank Kaiser for that.
As for the sussex work, we already heard about them shopping for a project via variety. This clown is like always repackaging an already known story to make it as an “exclusive. It has nothing to do with them not having paying opportunities as we’ve seen Meghan getting invited to speak in several events from the UN girlup summit, to Michelle Obama’s now we vote,+harry’s Netflix appearance (which he was probably paid for)They are proof how successful they are poised to be without the useless institution
Ms Nicholl would be suitable as PR for Catherine, from the beginning of her contract with Vanity Fair, she has let it be known that Kate was too busy parenting to be sociable to Meghan. She is always right when ‘reporting’ on Kate and wrong about the Sussexes. One can only imagine that many in UK including Kate would love to see the Sussexes fail for obvious reasons, from their perspective any forward moving on the Sussexes part has to be denigrated.