Why Harry and Meghan are moving towards a 'professional separation'

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at San Basilio de Palenque during The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Colombia Visit on August 17, 2024 in Cartagena, Colombia.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are creating what has been dubbed a "professional separation" in order to differentiate their work and projects. As avid royal watchers will have noticed, over the last few months the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been scheduling separate work commitments, and often appear solo at public events these days.

"Harry and Meghan's relationship seems to have evolved from a totally twinned one, where their body language was confined to appearances as a matching, complimentary and very royal-looking double act, to one that resembles the shape of a letter Y; joined and twinned at the base but also separating into two individuals moving into two rather separate professional directions," observed body language expert Judi James, speaking to the Mirror.

In order to maintain an equilibrium in their public image, the expert claims that "the newly 'sole trader' body language performances need to be interspersed with appearances that describe and emphasise the base of the 'Y.'" To Judi, that means scheduling joint appearances as well as solo ones, and showing some of the PDA that Harry and Meghan have become known for over the years.

In terms of what they've been up to lately, Harry just attended the Grey Cup in Vancouver, which is the championship game for the Canadian Football League. While in Canada, he also geared up for the 2025 Invictus Games, which will take place in Vancouver and Whistler.

Speaking of Invictus, Harry also released a video this week, in which country singer Jelly Roll - who will perform at the Games - gives him a really bad (fake) neck tattoo.

Jelly Roll Official Announced for Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Closing Ceremony - YouTube Jelly Roll Official Announced for Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Closing Ceremony - YouTube
Watch On

Meanwhile, Meghan has made some solo appearances of her own, including at the Highbrow Hippie Launch Party on 14 November.

Still, the Sussexes' work as a unit is far from over, as they both look after their Archewell Foundation, and they made a joint trip to Colombia in August. Apparently, the so-called 'professional separation' is a way of rethinking their career paths somewhat.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.