Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's team have gone to extreme lengths to make sure the couple are presented in a good light. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's team have gone to extreme lengths to make sure the couple are presented in a good light. Photo / Getty Images
It seems Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s team will go to extraordinary lengths to make sure the couple look good.
Newly released emails from the Daily Mail have revealed the extreme lengths the couple’s aides went to in efforts to make sure the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were presented in a positive light during their 2021 New York City visit.
The UK news outlet has reported – according to emails released through a FOIA request – that the couple had their team pull strings behind the scenes for up to six months before their visit to the city to make sure the public appearances filmed for their US$100 million ($168m) Netflix documentary went seamlessly.
One visit referenced in the emails notes that while the couple were visiting a public low-income school in the metropolis, representatives for the Sussexes suggested temporarily supplying cushions and new carpet as it would be a better fit with the former Suits actress’ aesthetic.
Dominique Cimina, a publicist with the publisher for Meghan’s children’s book, The Bench, wrote to a school saying, “My team is looking into all things carpet, cushions, decor etc. More to come”.
Prince Harry and Meghan spoke at the Global Citizen Festival in New York during their 2021 trip. Photo / AP
Emails also reportedly showed staff and students at the Harlem elementary school were asked to sign consent forms before any filming took place and allegedly banned those select members of the public from making “negative” remarks about the California-based royals.
It read in part: “I agree that without the prior written approval of [the] producer, I shall not discuss this appearance release, the material, the project itself, or my participation therein with any third party prior to the initial exhibition of the episode of the project in which I appear”.
The release reportedly banned anyone who signed it from posting on social media about the visit “now or in the future”.
The UK news outlet claimed the documents members of the public were being asked to sign prior to filming were vague about where the footage would be used, with the Sussexes’ now-former staffer, Toya Holness, explaining the documentary crew were “capturing archival content for future use, including potential digital/production projects”.
Danielle Filson, the NYC school’s press secretary, replied to the email warning the team at Archewell that any footage of the children captured “can’t be featured” in any material that is “promotional”.
It provoked a response from the head of unscripted content at Archewell, Chanel Pysnik, who vaguely answered the content “could be used in a future documentary” but was “not intended to be promotional in nature”.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex visit PS/MS 123 Mahalia Jackson School in Harlem on September 24, 2021 in New York City. Photo / Getty Images
The Daily Mail reported 95 per cent of children who attended the school were from low-income families and qualified for reduced-price lunches. However, despite the Duchess’s kind move of reading them her children’s book in an outdoor read-aloud session, it was her outfit that turned heads.
She reportedly wore a US$5,840 ($9,860) Loro Piana cashmere coat and matching US$1,680 ($2,836) pants during the September 24 visit. She also wore approximately US$387,000 ($653,401) worth of jewellery.
The emails also revealed Archewell staff also chose which school the couple would make an appearance at and released multiple edits of press releases so their visit would sound “more substantial”, the news outlet reports.
Elsewhere, the emails revealed the trip to New York City included a closely monitored press list which only included Meghan-friendly publications. Vogue was reportedly one of the named publications, as were the Huffington Post, New York magazine and Oprah Daily, while UK tabloids were banned from the visits.
During the couple’s trip to One World Trade Center in Manhattan, where they met with then-New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, his wife Chirlane McCray and New York governor Kathy Hochul, Holness sent an email to multiple high-profile individuals’ pre-securities saying, “Just one flag, under no circumstances should we let in folks from the four UK tabloids (Daily Mail, Sun, Mirror and Express). Thanks!”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, visit One World Observatory on the 102nd floor of the Freedom Tower of the One World Trade Center. Photo / Getty Images
Bill Neidharts, de Blasio’s then-press secretary, and Kate Smart, governor Hochul’s deputy press secretary, were included in the email chain and reportedly raised no concerns.
They have since returned to the city earlier this year to attend the Ms. Foundation’s Women of Vision Awards in New York, where Meghan was honoured. Following the event, the couple claimed paparazzi pursued them in a “high speed” chase.
