Will Meghan Markle Develop Her Own Brand?

Meghan Markle needs to develop her own brand that isn't just a 'grievance brand' if the Sussexes are to be successful globally, a royal expert has said.

Asked how long-lasting the Sussex brand can be across the world now the couple are semi-outside the royal fold, ex-Vanity fair editor Tina Brown said Prince Harry, 38, would 'always be royal' as the son of King Charles and Princess Diana.

She told the Cheltenham Literature Festival yesterday: 'He will always have the iconic status that that has. He does have an identity, his Invictus [Games] has an authenticity and people relate to that.'

But she insisted that Harry's wife, Meghan, 41, needed to find and focus on a cause of her own.

She said: 'I think Meghan does really need to find the thing she cares about the most and develop her own sort of brand that isn't just a grievance brand, that is actually something we recognise as hers.

'It's hard to find that and I think she hasn't yet found that but I think she could if she rows back from the focusing always on what didn't work.'

Miss Brown, who was speaking to promote her latest book, The Palace Papers, said on stepping back as senior royals, the Sussexes hadn't anticipated the challenges of life outside the palace operation.

'The Sussexes didn't realise how hard it was to create a rival platform. You're essentially at the mercy of PRs who [specialise in making people look good].'

'The people who achieved it, the George Clooneys and the Oprahs, they are very good at it.

'It's very difficult when you want to be above it. It's much harder than it looks.'