The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation just released the charity’s 2021 tax filings; and it looks like Prince Harry, 38, and Meghan Markle, 41, only worked on their nonprofit for a total of 52 hours that year, which is essentially just one hour a week! And as you can imagine, this did *not* go down well with royal experts and members of the public alike!
The IRS 990 filing was recently posted on Archewell’s official website, so it doesn’t look like the Sussexes wanted to hide how much (or more accurately, how little!) they worked on their foundation. This is somewhat surprising given that they have come under a *lot* of scrutiny, due to the fact that they previously claimed stepping down as senior royals wouldn’t stop them from continuing with a life of service, yet the tax documents seem to suggest otherwise.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Will NOT Be In The Coronation Procession, Leaked Plans Show
Women Are Swapping Their Boring Water For This Ice Pop Electrolyte Mix!
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Criticized By Royal Experts
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that their minimal working hours are "totally inconsistent" with the original statement the couple made in 2021, whereby they pledged a life of service despite stepping down as senior royals one year prior. "They said, 'We can all live a life of service. Service is universal,'" Fordwich said, adding, "One hour a week isn’t exactly 'a life.' There is a vast distinction between a 'life' of service to others versus a self-promoting and self-serving life."
"The royal family indeed garners much of its respect and admiration from the public due to their focusing on the work of others while the Sussexes are clearly focused on their own issues," Fordwich continued. "Prior to this tax return that might be construed as an opinion. Now, the lack of time spent is a fact. Their dedication to driving dollars has clearly taken priority over any dedication to duty."
Fordwich wasn’t the only royal expert who weighed in, as Kinsey Schofield, the host of the To Di For Daily podcast, told Fox News Digital that she doesn’t believe working just 52 hours a year means that they are serious about a life of service, and in her opinion, they might not be deserving of all the awards they have recently received! Ouch!
"It's no secret that Meghan pursued a friendship with activist Gloria Steinem... and this week we discovered that Meghan is conveniently being awarded the Women of Vision Award by Steinem at the Ms. Foundation for Women gala in May," Schofield said. "I've never seen two people that contribute so little to society collect so many awards."
"I think the one-hour work week demonstrates a lack of sincerity in their ‘life of service’ statement post-Megxit," she added. "We've seen high volumes of complaining about family drama on Netflix and in Spare and very little life of service... but that doesn't stop them from accepting awards for fighting systematic racism within the royal family... weeks before Harry denied ever accusing his family of racism."
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Money-Making Projects
The Sussexes might argue that they *have* worked a lot more than those 52 hours, but it certainly wasn’t for their nonprofit or any other charitable organizations. Instead, the parents-of-two appear to have spent a lot more time on high-earning projects which they need since being cut off financially by the royal family after stepping down as senior royals. Moderator, public speaker, and TV commentator Shannon Felton Spence told Fox News Digital: "Archewell’s tax forms reflect what is obvious to even a casual observer. Despite telling the world of their ambitions as philanthropists, Harry and Meghan spend their time on for-profit enterprises like docuseries and memoirs."
Some of their money-making projects include signing a five-year $100M contract with Netflix (which streamed last year's highly-controversial Harry & Meghan docuseries) at the end of 2020. Also in 2020, they signed a three-year deal with Spotify, which Forbes estimated might be around $15-25M. The former Suits actress also reportedly received a $618K advance for her children’s book, The Bench, which was published in 2021, while Prince Harry received a $20M advance for his bombshell memoir, Spare, which was published in January this year.
This, therefore, caused Felton Spence to add: "Their words and actions do not align. They missed a major opportunity to do a big philanthropic push after publishing Harry's book. That would have signaled that they were turning the page toward their new life and focused on doing good for communities across the globe."
That one hour week reminds of that one food parcel they delivered during the pandemic. With cameras ready to capture it.
— dean martini (@martinidayz) April 5, 2023
Twitter Comments
It wasn’t just the royal experts who had thoughts following the revelations about how little the Sussexes have worked. As you can imagine, Twitter was rife with comments from, shall we say, people who aren’t so fond of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and they weren’t afraid to make their less-than-complimentary opinions known!
"Wish I could work an hour a week and make like 10 million," one Twitter user wrote. "Well one hour is all they can manage between polo matches and garden parties. We have to keep our priorities in order," quipped another. "Who cares what this self important couple do," stated another. "That one hour week reminds of that one food parcel they delivered during the pandemic. With cameras ready to capture it," someone else commented.
Wow The Duke and Duchess of Deception must be some kind of special humanitarians! Saving the world working 1 hour/week?! #HarryandMeghanareGrifters https://t.co/BMZ5dV21MI
— Mystifeyed👁 (@Mystifeye) April 2, 2023
"They could be the most unlikable couple on the planet," said another Harry and Meghan critic. "Trash. They should be ashamed," said another. "No one cares!" exclaimed another, while someone else said, "Who cares?" which was a common thought expressed on social media. "Wow The Duke and Duchess of Deception must be some kind of special humanitarians! Saving the world working 1 hour/week?!" commented another, followed by some crying laughing emojis and the hashtag, #HarryandMeghanareGrifters.
