When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their departure from official royal duties in early 2020, they framed it as the start of a bold new journey. Fast-forward to 2025, and the optimism that once fueled their Archewell Foundation, media deals, and lifestyle brand has dimmed considerably.
Rather than the breakthrough year they envisioned, 2025 has become a cautionary tale of overreach, missteps, and fading relevance. The Royal Family, though distant, has observed these developments from the sidelines—largely silent, but undoubtedly aware.
Sources close to the couple confirm that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry entered 2025 with ambitious goals: a successful Netflix cooking and lifestyle series titled With Love, Meghan, expanded Archewell initiatives, and deeper integration into Hollywood’s elite circles.
Yet reality painted a different picture. The Netflix show, launched in January, failed to capture audience interest—critics called it “inauthentic,” and viewer numbers plummeted within weeks. Meanwhile, Prince Harry has reportedly grown increasingly homesick, missing the structure and familiarity of life in the UK.
Their “big plans” haven’t just stalled—they’ve begun to collapse under the weight of public fatigue and internal mismanagement.
Perhaps the most telling sign of trouble is the quiet but steady exodus from their nonprofit, Archewell. Over the past 12 months, nearly 25 employees have left the organization, citing unclear direction, leadership instability, and burnout.
This internal unraveling mirrors the couple’s external challenges. Once welcomed with open arms in Beverly Hills, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are now seen as out of touch—even by former allies.
In a move that baffled insiders, the Sussexes reportedly asked Kris Jenner to remove photos of them from her social media after attending her 70th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills. What was meant to be a high-profile social appearance backfired, reinforcing perceptions that the couple is controlling and disconnected from Hollywood norms.
“There is not only no appetite left for them in L.A., but they’ve also worn through any goodwill they had,” a source told Page Six in November. Another added bluntly: “People are sick of them. The act has gotten stale.”
While the Royal Family remains officially neutral, the contrast between the monarchy’s steady presence and the Sussexes’ chaotic 2025 couldn’t be starker. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry once believed they could redefine global influence on their own terms. Now, they face a harsh truth: their “big plans” were built on a foundation of hype, not sustainability.
As the year draws to a close, the couple appears increasingly isolated—no longer the darlings of Hollywood, no longer active members of the Royal Family, and struggling to find their footing in a world that has moved on.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry continue to face the ‘hell’ of 2025, not as pioneers, but as cautionary figures whose big plans have collapsed under the weight of expectation, ego, and exhaustion.
For the Royal Family, it’s a quiet reminder of the cost of stepping away—and the difficulty of building a kingdom outside the crown.
