Daniela Elser: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s $6.7K embarrassment

OPINION:

In March, to celebrate International Women’s Day, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex turned up in Los Angeles, an apparition in Max Mara and Valentino, to do some good.

She had made the four-hour round trip from her Montecito home to support Harvest Home, a charity for homeless pregnant women. Making her way out of the hip eatery, vegan Mexican joint Gracias Madre, the chic Duchess was photographed carrying a black and white Chanel calfskin handbag – an item which reportedly costs more than $11,000.

The interesting thing about this was not only is she clearly unafraid to reveal the couple’s changed financial circumstances since skittering away from royal life, but the bag’s price tag is nearly double that of how much money the Sussexes’ Archewell Foundation has raised from the public. (Based on the most recently available tax filings.)

Earlier this month Archewell’s Internal Revenue Service documents became public, throwing light on the finances of the fledgling charity set up in late 2020 by the renegade pair. The documents, as reported by the Daily Mail, show that in 2021, when their star power was at its peak, they raised $US13,005,660 ($20.7 million) in total and gave out $US3,096,319 ($4.9 million) in grants to charities.

Where things get interesting is when you break down that $20.7 million figure, the vast majority of which came from only two very deep-pocketed benefactors.

So calculators out, workbooks open and everyone looking at the board, please.

The Archewell paperwork shows that nearly $US10 million ($15.9 million) – or roughly 75 per cent – came from one donor, with the Mail reporting that there is “speculation” that sum came from Oprah Winfrey “in return” for the Sussexes’ explosive 2021 TV interview.

Then, there was a $US3 million ($4.7 million) donation from another individual, with the Mail suggesting that person may have been Prince Harry himself, with him dipping into the reported $30 million advance he got for Spare.

But it’s one of the littlest numbers that is the most fascinating: Archewell has only raised $US4470 ($7134) from the public.

Now before any of you, caring sorts rush out to start rattling tins on street corners to try to keep Archewell going, it is still very comfortably in the black, with more than $US9 million ($14.3 million) in the bank.

But the question that these documents raise is, take away what are very possibly one-off moments of generosity, potentially from a TV icon and a flush-feeling Harry, and how exactly are they going to raise money in the future?

So far Archewell has not attracted any large-scale, direct corporate financial support, nor would it seem that people are queuing up to give them money.

What that means for the Duke and Duchess is that they now face having to throw themselves into the ruck and maul of the American charity world and will face huge competition in the fight to hook donations from the uber-wealthy.

Harry and Meghan clearly have an ambitious vision for what they want to achieve with Archewell, however, all of that enthusiasm and pep needs some serious coin behind it to make it a reality. In the coming years, Archewell will have to find serious cash if the charity wants to achieve anywhere near what the Sussexes would seem to hope for – and that is going to require them to get on the fundraising treadmill and start running with a vengeance.

What they will be able to do will be limited to and dictated by how much dough they can bring in.

And that is going to mean that Harry and Meghan need to devote a hell of a lot of time to cosying up to every capitalist, hedge funder, billion-dollar trust fund holder and hoodie-wearing crypto bro out there.

Which is to say the Sussexes have a lot of dignified begging, sucking up, glad-handing, picture-posing and eating-dry-chicken-breasts-at-charity-dinners ahead of them.

Not only that, but they face seriously stiff competition and it will only be an uphill battle to keep the millions they need rolling in. There are more than 1.5 million charities in the United States and more celebrities would seem to have their very own one than not. And the amounts they both pull in and give away? Ooh weee. We are going to need to add some zeros up here on the blackboard.

Beyoncé has BeyGOOD which provided nearly $9 million in the first months of the pandemic in 2020 alone to help with mental health support and community organisations; around the same time, Leonardo DiCaprio helped spearhead America’s Food Fund (started on GoFundMe no less) and soon raised nearly $18 million ($19.4 million) thanks to Laurene Powell Jobs, Apple, and the Ford Foundation; the Clooney Foundation for Justice has given away millions including a nearly $1.5 million donation by George in 2017 to help bring war criminals in Africa to justice; and the Jolie-Pitt Foundation raised $61.6 million ($65.5 million) over 10 years, largely through the sale of their baby and wedding photos.

The absolute godfather of the celebrity charity world is Sir Elton John whose eponymous AIDS foundation, started at the height of the epidemic in the 1980s, has raised more than $760 million ($808m) and reportedly saved more than five million lives. No wonder the man has so many royal titles.

Harry and Meghan will have to, in the years to come when the Archewell bank accounts start to dwindle thanks to their good works, go up against these and about a gazillion other non-profits set up by every star, Oscar-winner and corporate titan who wants to do a spot of giving back.

Now the Sussexes have an ace up their sleeves – the cache of their royal status. However, in the years since 2021, their star has clearly dimmed in the United States where they have become deeply polarising figures, making this job that much harder.

Then there is the fact that trading one’s proximity to the crown for charity cash is fraught with peril. Look no further than Harry’s father King Charles, who over the last couple of years has been revealed to have made some appalling decisions in the name of fundraising.

The Times said Charles reportedly accepted $4.9 million ($5.2m) in charitable donations made in cash stuffed into bags from a Qatari politician along, as well as more than $1.8 million from one of Osama bin Laden’s 40-plus siblings. (If any of this had happened at a time when there was not a surfeit of other royal drama, this would have – and should have – been a much bigger and more controversial deal).

Late last year the British police handed over their investigation into an alleged cash-for-honours scheme involving his Prince’s Trust to the Crown Prosecution Service. (The King is not facing any allegations of wrongdoing. But it’s still not a good look).

Another possible avenue for Harry and Meghan is the big end of town, however so far there are no signs that any corporations have been rushing to give them money. (Two things here. Maybe the Apples of the world have offered and for some inexplicable reason they said ‘no’. Also, in 2021, Archewell signed a multi-year partnership with Procter & Gamble, which saw pallets of nappies donated to women’s charity Harvest Home).

Keep in mind in all of this that the Sussexes’ personal earning potential is far from guaranteed in the years to come, with the Duchess having no confirmed projects at the moment and with Harry only having his Invictus doco ticking along. They might not be facing penury, but they may very well be about to become acquainted with the slog you and I know all too well in terms of having to work to pay the bills. This is to say, they themselves seem unlikely to be able to personally bankroll Archewell.

The bottom line, in every sense? Harry and Meghan have not only a rough and steep road in front of them in terms of keeping their careers chugging along; dealing with his seemingly p**sed-off family; and fighting the approximately 37 lawsuits Harry has filed, but they will also have to keep Archewell flush.

Now that I think about it, maybe it is time to get those tins out. And does anyone know whatever happened to the Wilderness Society’s manky, matted koala costumes? Though if they ever get really desperate, they can always ask Charles for his Qatari mate’s number.