Marie Claire reported yesterday that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are “embarking on a total system reboot”; Omid Scobie, in his new book Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, drops hints about what in particular Meghan’s next steps might be. Is becoming a lifestyle guru in her plans, a la Martha Stewart? It could be, Scobie said in an interview to promote the book.
In conversation with The Independent, Scobie said of the somewhat vague predictions in the book around Meghan’s future “I’m not being deliberately mysterious. My mind always goes to [Gwyneth Paltrow’s] Goop, but when I suggested that to someone with some knowledge, they said, ‘Oh, no, this isn’t going to be about selling products.’ So, who knows? The next Martha Stewart?”
Interestingly, Scobie said it was unlikely that Meghan would revive “The Tig,” her popular lifestyle blog that she closed before marrying Harry in 2018. (“The Tig” drew ample and frequent comparisons to Goop.) Scobie said Meghan is currently focused on building “something more accessible, something rooted in her love of details, curating, hosting, life’s simple pleasures, and family,” Endgame reads.
Scobie added that Meghan would only launch her new venture once she was out of the shadow of the royal family. “They insisted the reason she didn’t come to the Coronation was because of Archie’s birthday,” Scobie said. (Prince Archie turned four on May 6, the same day as King Charles’ Coronation.) “But I know from other people in their orbit being dragged into all the media coverage and hysteria that comes with her being within 10 feet of the royal family was enough to deter her and is clearly something she wants to steer away from.”
We have been following the @meghan Instagram account, waiting for something to happen (though what, we’re not sure); we’re not alone, as 126,000 others are doing the same (including activist Mandana Dayana, The Daily Mail reports, who served as president of Archewell, the Sussexes’ media and philanthropic company, until last December), following an account that has zero posts, follows no one, and has a photo of flowers as its profile image. Meghan has had prior success on the platform—prior to marrying Harry, her personal Instagram following was more than 3 million, and she and Harry’s joint @sussexroyal account had 9.4 million followers before it was deactivated in 2020, as the couple stepped back as working members of the royal family and moved to the United States.
Regardless if Meghan is planning on launching a lifestyle empire or is, in fact, the @meghan Instagram account, or something not even on our radar, her April signing with powerhouse talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) makes it certain that something is brewing. We hope to soon know exactly what.
