Don't Complain, Never Explain Revisited

As split rumors plague House Sussex, are we seeing an appreciation for the policy?

When was the last time we saw Meghan Markle support her husband Prince Harry in person for one of his professional endeavors or personal causes?

They were “papped” during Fourth of July weekend. But that wasn’t a professional engagement, let alone a personal cause, so that doesn’t count. The were spotted getting sushi in their adopted hometown of Montecito…But dinner is just dinner and doesn’t fall into the aforementioned bucket. Harry traveled to support Meghan picking up an award in New York City before everything went off the rails, but that was her accomplishment, not his. By and large? Professionally and personally, lately Harry has had to cut a solitary figure for all of his private and public events.

Gone are the days when Meghan would pop in every now and then to implicitly support her husband when he was doing an interview of some sort. Last month, I wrote about how the signs were there that Meghan was divorcing herself, at least professionally, from the Duke of Sussex:

Harry has attended all of his court cases by himself, he cut a solo figure at the Coronation, and it was just him at the Warrior Games in San Diego last week (Harry and Meghan’s first public outing together was at the Invictus Games). I don’t like to speculate too much on marriages, but from the outside looking in, Meghan is certainly divorcing herself from Harry professionally.

Africa, the Military community, and Diana. Despite these three topics being experiences they shared and bonded over together, the signs have been there for a while now that Harry is on his own. Let’s take a look at this and how the Sussexes seem to have adopted the fabled “Stiff upper lip/No response is the right response” strategy they hated when in the Palace as split rumors engulf their brand.

When Prince Harry made a trip to visit African countries last year to help enhance his diplomatic credentials, Meghan did not come with him. He’s described Africa as his “second home” and was there in his capacity as President of African Parks. She was missing from his side when he went to Hawaii late last year to visit Pearl Harbor. When it came time to give out the second annual NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award in Los Angeles this February, a joint statement was released, but it was only Harry who dialed in via Zoom from Montecito (two hours west of LA) to speak to the recipient during the awards.

Just Harry dialing into the NAACP Image Awards

Would it have been so difficult to show up for the community which supported them so strongly in the beginning? That Harry, not Meghan, was the chosen individual from Archewell calling into the NAACP Awards show is a conversation for another day. For today, let’s just say this solo webcam appearance was a far cry from their joint appearance the year before.

The pair also did zero promotion for their joint venture with Netflix, Harry and Meghan. For people who extoll the virtues of telling their “truth”, the lack of interviews or boosting of the show was telling. Meghan was nowhere to be found during Harry’s promotion of Spare. She did not accompany him to New York during his visit to get interviewed by Stephen Colbert and she was nowhere to be found during his other Spare-related media interviews. Keep reading on as we dig into when exactly the last time they appeared together professionally and how Don’t Complain, Never Explain is being adopted by their camp.

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