Prince Harry and Meghan Markle urge followers to ‘unleash a groundswell of compassion’ ahead of International Women’s Day next week and suggest ‘good deeds’ for fans to do this month
- Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, have updated Archewell website
- Duke and Duchess changed the site for International Women’s Day on March 8
- Removed photo of couple volunteering and shared image of Meghan speaking at UN conference
- Then-actress gave a speech at conference in 2015 before joining royal family
- Called on followers to ‘unleash acts of compassion’ on women in month of March
- Shared a list of good deeds and resources for fans to use, including patronages
- Change to the site comes after Queen stripped the Sussexes of royal patronages
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have urged their followers to ‘unleash a groundswell of compassion’ on women ahead of International Women’s Day this month in an update on their website.
The Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussex, 39, who are currently living in their $14 million Californian mansion, gave their Archewell website a makeover over the weekend, using a snappy paragraph to declare they plan to ‘drive systemic cultural change’ through ‘one act of compassion at a time’.
The duo have now changed the website again to celebrate the day on March 8, and encouraged fans to perform charitable acts and good deeds through their website.
Suggestions include supporting charities including Meghan’s patronage Smart Works, which focuses on helping unemployed and vulnerable women return to employment, or sponsoring a girl through Myna Mahila.
The couple have also stripped a photograph volunteering together in LA from the site, and now feature a picture of then-actress Meghan delivering a speech at the UN Women conference in 2015.
Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, have updated their website for International Women’s Day on 8 March
The couple shared resources and links to different charities online, including a link to Meghan’s patronage Smart Works
The couple shared a photograph of the Duchess in 2015 as she delivered a speech at a UN conference on the site
Prince Harry and Meghan’s organisation has also created a portable list of good deeds to ‘share with friends, hang it in your fridge, and inspire acts of compassion everyday, all month long.’
Suggested ‘good deeds’ include ‘picking up the phone to check in with a friend’ and ‘enabling women-led non-profits to thrive.’
In December last year the Duke and Duchess launched the site of their non-profit organisation, in which they vowed to ‘unleash the power of compassion’ and Harry described himself as his ‘mother’s son’.
At the time, the couple originally shared two images on the homepage, one of Harry as a boy with Diana, taken at Highgrove in July 1986, and one of Meghan as a girl with her mother, Doria Ragland.
The Duke and Duchess also shared a list of good deeds which followers could do to help women in the community, with suggestions including ‘enabling women-led non-profits to thrive’
The couple have updated the homepage of the site ahead of International Women’s Day 2021 on 8 March
Their most recent changes to the site comes as a trailer for the couple’s incendiary interview with Oprah Winfrey was revealed today.
In the clips, the media mogul pushes Meghan on whether she was ‘silenced’ by the Crown while Prince Harry claims he emigrated to LA with his family because he feared ‘history repeating itself’ after the death of his mother Princess Diana.
The Duke says that leaving the Royal Family was ‘unbelievably tough’ and Oprah claims the couple both say ‘some pretty shocking things’ in the bombshell interview that is expected to upset the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William when the show is broadcast on Sunday, March 7.
Oprah promises viewers there will be ‘shocking’ revelations and ‘no subject off limits’ in the heavily-produced teaser complete with dramatic music released online by CBS in the US overnight.
The most recent change comes days after the couple initially launched their new makeover for their Archewell website, swapping an image of Prince Harry’s late mother with a picture of the couple volunteering in California (pictured yesterday)
In December last year the pair launched the website of their non-profit organisation, in which they vowed to ‘unleash the power of compassion’ and Harry described himself as his ‘mother’s son’ (pictured in December)
The interview comes after the couple were told they could not continue with ‘the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service’ and were stripped of their remaining patronages following their move to the US.
The Duke and Duchess were stripped of their royal and sporting patronages by the Queen last week, and announced they are expecting their second child on Valentine’s Day.
The couple’s original Archewell site featured an emotive letter about Prince Harry, Meghan and their relationship with their mothers.
It made no reference to Harry’s father Prince Charles or to his brother William – and royal expert Phil Dampier said this would not have gone unnoticed by the family.
Pictured, Harry and Meghan handing out school supplies, clothing and nappies to families in need at a drive-thru event in Los Angeles last year
The Archewell website had featured this picture of a young Prince Harry sitting on the shoulders of Princess Diana, taken at Highgrove in Gloucestershire in July 1986
He told MailOnline at the time: ‘I think William will be slightly worried if Harry uses Diana for any of his charitable or commercial ventures without consulting him, and I don’t think he would be happy if Harry appears to be exploiting his mother’s iconic status.
‘It’s also very significant that Harry called himself his ‘mother’s son’ but has made no mention of Prince Charles. William is very much following now in his father’s footsteps with his environmental and conservation work.’
The site still plugs the couple’s commercial ventures – Archewell Audio, the brand they have chosen for their £30m podcasting deal with Spotify, and Archewell Productions, their chosen name for their Netflix production tie-up said to be worth as much as £100m.
Since stepping down as senior royals in March and moving to the US, the couple have been working towards this moment to officially launch, albeit softly, the website and the philosophy behind their organisation Archewell.
Their decision to leave was based as much about financial as personal freedom and the huge sums gives them the capital to pursue their new lifestyle and public goals.
The couple announced they had secured a deal with Spotify last year. It was commercial deals such as this that put the couple at odds with the impartiality required of those in public service and seemingly led to the permanent split with the Firm.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLmjAHYHKx_/
A post shared by Meghan (fan page) (@_duchess_of_sussex)
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, appeared alongside the Duke, 36, in a 20-second video to plug their Archewell Audio podcast at a Spotify live stream event broadcast earlier this week
Archewell is expected to focus on the issues the couple have been championing during the pandemic and before – racial justice, gender equity, climate change, mental health, online hate speech and empowering diverse voices.
The foundation’s partnership with a range of academic and tech organisations will include financial support.
Sussexes ditch letter about Diana for mission statement
Letter shared 31 December:
A Letter for 2021
I am my mother’s son.
And I am our son’s mother.
Together we bring you Archewell.
We believe in the best of humanity.
Because we have seen the best of humanity.
We have experienced compassion and kindness, From our mothers and strangers alike.
In the face of fear, struggle and pain, It can be easy to lose sight of this.
Together, we can choose courage, healing, and connection.
Together, we can choose to put compassion in action.
We invite you to join us.
As we work to build a better world, One act of compassion at a time.
Harry and Meghan
February 2021 update:
Welcome to Archewell. Through our non-profit work, as well as creative activations, we drive systemic cultural change across all communities, one act of compassion at a time.
Marketing executives have predicted Archewell will become a ‘billion-dollar brand’.
The change comes days after they appeared in a 20-second video to plug their Archewell Audio podcast at a Spotify live stream event broadcast earlier this week.
In the brief appearance, Meghan, gushed that they are ‘using podcasting to drive powerful conversations’, before Harry chimed in ‘that inspire, challenge and educate’.
‘We created Archwell audio to make sure we can elevate voices that maybe aren’t being heard and hear people’s stories,’ Meghan, who was wearing a £2,645 Oscar de la Renta dress, said.
The Sussexes were last week told they could not continue with ‘the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service’ and were stripped of their remaining patronages following their move to the US.
Minutes after Buckingham Palace released its statement confirming Meghan and Harry were no-longer working royals, the couple hit back saying they would still ‘live a life of service’ in a ‘barbed’ statement dubbed ‘horribly disrespectful’ to the elderly Queen.
Earlier today, a trailer was released for the couple’s interview with Oprah in which she promised viewers there will be ‘shocking’ revelations and ‘no subject off limits’ .
During the trailer a visibly-pregnant Meghan, wearing a $4,700 black Armani dress, says nothing, and is only shown looking emotional while either cradling her baby bump or holding on to her husband’s hand in the garden of their £11million Montecito mansion.
But in a hint that Meghan will not hold back about Harry’s family, Oprah reveals the former actress calls her 20 months as a royal ‘almost unsurvivable’ and the interviewer brands her account ‘shocking’.
Ms Winfrey then tells her friend: ‘It sounds like there was a breaking point,’ before asking the former actress: ‘Were you silent or were you silenced?’ Oprah also says to the camera: ‘Just to make it clear to everybody, there is no subject that is off-limits’ in the interview the Sussexes plan to use to boost their popularity in the US and continue their war with the press.
Harry, wearing a smart grey suit and white shirt, also said he was ‘relieved and happy’ to have his wife by his side, hinting he feared that Meghan would suffer the same fate as his mother, who died 23 years ago.
There will be some disquiet at the palace because it has now emerged that Harry has chosen to reference Princess Diana, who died in 1997 in a Paris car crash along with her partner Dodi Fayed.
He tells Ms Winfrey in the 30-second clip: ‘I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago’. He added: ‘Because it’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us but at least we have each other.’
In more bad news for the royals, who have already been warned to ‘hide behind their sofas’ next Sunday, CBS last night revealed the show has extended from 90 minutes to a two-hour special that will be watched by tens of millions of people worldwide.
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