Good Riddance, 2023: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Labeled 'Biggest Losers' of the Year Thanks to Numerous Scandals
The late Queen Elizabeth II once called 1992 her "Annus horribilis" (horrible year), and 2023 seems to be the same for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle!
"Still, all the scorn and mockery beats otherwise having to attend 200-plus official royal family engagements a year, which sounds h------," The Hollywood Reporter stated when summarizing the duo's inclusion on their losers list.
"In 2020, the royal duo fled a life of ceremonial public service to cash in their celebrity status in the States. But after a whiny Netflix documentary, a whiny biography (Spare — even the title is a pouty gripe), and an inert podcast, the Harry and Meghan brand swelled into a sanctimonious bubble just begging to be popped — and South Park was the pin. The show’s 20-minute 'World-Wide Privacy Tour' takedown in March was savage, and was followed by Spotify dropping (Meghan’s podcast) 'Archetypes,' with a top executive labeling the duo 'grifters,'" the publication added.
The outlet left out another of the pair's major media faux pas' of the year when they had a "near catastrophic car chase" with NYC paparazzi on May 16. That incident led to the NYPD and the city's mayor calling into question the supposed "severity" of the pursuit, which became a press sensation for weeks afterward.
The magazine also came to their conclusion about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before the publication of Omid Scobie's Endgame on November 28. The media firestorm that the book has raised — thanks to a "translation error" that named King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales, as the "royal racists" from the 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview — is still currently being felt.
"There are potential deals on the table for Meghan that could just as quickly vanish if this continues. Whether or not Meghan and Harry were the sources of these (attacks), people will simply assume they were because of their past connections with Mr. Scobie," a source spilled when describing the naming fallout.
Meghan infamously collaborated with Scobie on his first tell-all, Finding Freedom, in 2020, only to initially mislead everyone by claiming she had nothing to do with the book.
Still, others remain cautiously optimistic about the former actress, in particular, as 2024 looms.
"Meghan, in the right hands, is a superpower — the world’s most famous woman — and on paper, she could make millions for herself and for whoever represents her. But she’s proving to be too hot to handle, and even though she hasn’t said anything about the book, she’s guilty by association, and this is damaging for her and others as she plots her next career move," culture commentator Nick Ede shared with an outlet.
The Mercury News reported on expert opinions.