Royal experts have pulled back the curtain with a frank reminder that living in the headlines is not the same as true fame while offering their perspective on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s latest standing and their projects.
The expert also weighed in on the couple’s Hollywood venture after the recent release of “Cookie Queens”, a documentary executive produced by the Sussexes through Archewell Productions.
The movie’s opening weekend badly failed to produce strong box-office numbers. “Cookie Queens” earned around $354,000 from 446 theaters, according to reported box-office figures.
Their muchpublicised documentary was even beaten by “CatVideoFest 2026”, a compilation of viral internet cat videos, which earned approximately $569,000 despite playing on just 255 screens.
The experts questioned the Sussexes’ ability to dominate the news cycle desbit being failed to get real fame.
Teh Sussexes remain extraordinarily effective at generating headlines, but headlines and paying customers are two very different things, accoding to royal commentator Kinsey Schofield.
She told Fox News Digital, “There was a period when simply attaching their names to something guaranteed enormous curiosity. I’m not convinced that’s true anymore.
“Hollywood can forgive a lot, but being beaten by ‘CatVideoFest’ is the sort of indignity that writes its own punchline.”
She tried to bring the fact the public eye as she added: “People may click on a Meghan Markle headline because they’re fascinated by her or irritated by her. That doesn’t mean they’re going to buy a movie ticket because her name is attached to the project.”
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich shared the same sentiment, saying: “The extremely underwhelming box office is a clear indication that, yet again, unless they are bashing the royals and sharing inside stories, secrets and betraying the privacy of the family, there isn’t much they have that is at all in demand nor popular.”
According to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, “Their huge hits were the three infamous betrayals of the royal family, on Oprah, the Netflix series ‘Harry & Meghan’ and Harry’s memoir ‘Spare.’”
Undoubtedly, Harry’s 2023 memoir “Spare” produced worldwide headlines with its claims about life inside the royal family.
The expect did not hesitate to say, “The world knows who they are, but isn’t curious enough to tune in and watch Meghan’s ghastly series ‘With Love, Meghan,’ their series on the Invictus Games, ‘Polo’ or, it seems, ‘Cookie Queens.’ Reports vary on the exact level of success or failure of Meghan’s brand As Ever, but the jam, flower sprinkles and scented candles have become a bit of a joke.”
“Infamy can be extremely valuable to newspapers, television shows and social media platforms because people will click, argue and engage. Monetizing that attention yourself is a completely different challenge, ” claimed the expert.
Undoubtedly, Hollywood’s expectations have changed considerably since the couple first arrived in California. When they first stepped in Monteciito, they were the story, even the industry’s giants were buying access to them to know why they walked away from the royal family.
Now, the popularity has diminished, fulling to debate that they can not build an audience around something that isn’t royal drama.
2026-08-15 19:00:00
