By Molly Claire Goddard
3:04pm PST, Feb 5, 2026
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According to royal expert Kinsey Schofield, Prince Harry is constantly being defined by the people around him and not by who he is. “Prince Harry has essentially traded one hierarchy for another,” she told Fox News Digital. “In the royal family, he was the spare to Prince William. In Hollywood, he risks becoming the supporting character to Meghan Markle’s ambitions. The entertainment industry rewards relevance, star power and personal branding.”
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After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left England for California in 2020, it appears as if the Suits star has taken the reins of their endeavors. “Meghan has consistently demonstrated a clearer strategy and stronger command of that ecosystem,” Kinsey Schofield said. “Harry, by contrast, has struggled to define a role beyond being ‘Prince Harry,’ which leaves him vulnerable to fading into the background.”
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While Prince Harry’s departure from The Firm was originally meant to be freeing, Kinsey Schofield thinks the Duke of Sussex seems lost. “California seems to have left Harry unmoored,” she said. “He is far from his family, his military community and the institutional structure that once gave him direction. While he enjoys the privileges of wealth and privacy, there is a visible lack of grounding. To the public, he appears less settled than solid.”
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Prince Harry is wrapped up in his legal battle against the U.K. press. The Spare author and other A-list celebrities sued multiple publications for alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking, bugging and impersonation for private records spanning multiple decades.
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According to royal editor Russell Myers, King Charles III hasn’t been happy with Prince Harry waging a war against the British media. “Only when there is a diminished sense of an agenda from the Duke [Harry] and an appetite to engage on terms other than his own, will his family — who are all still dutifully engaged in their royal roles — make it possible to take him seriously,” he wrote for The Mirror.