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Prince Harry’s tattoo shop visit without Meghan is major hint couple could have separate plans for future, warns expert
An expert suggested the couple could be staying together to preserve 'their brand'
PRINCE Harry's tattoo shop visit and upcoming solo trip without Meghan is a major hint the couple could have separate future plans, claimed an expert.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, was spotted at a tattoo parlour in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and stayed for over an hour yesterday.
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It was also revealed Harry will be jetting to Lesotho and South Africa early next month without Meghan Markle.
This comes after the duke attended at a string of events in New York unaccompanied by his wife, who stayed behind in Montecito, California.
Their separate appearances, including Harry's surprise TV stint and tour of a haunted maze on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, has sparked rampant speculation regarding their future together.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers hailed the upcoming Lesotho and South Africa trips.
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He told The Sun: "I rather commend what he's doing with this, because this is more outgoing.
"It's like when he does things with the Invictus Games and things like that.
"But there seems to be a pattern forming, even in these last few days, that he is going out on his own and doing things."
The expert suggested there could be multiple reasons for the divide.
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"One could be that, you know. He does indeed wish to establish himself more as the old Harry," he said.
"It could be quite simply that Meghan Markle has responsibilities with her young children, and therefore feels she has to stay at home with them."
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But he added: "There is a separation of, you know, of their different engagements, and that he's going to be going more solo, in which case watch this space."
Meghan and Harry have put on a largely inseparable front since quitting the UK and moving to the States in 2020.
But Mr Vickers warned the duke may have grown tired of Meg's presence - and the negativity it attracts.
"It always seems to me that when she's around she's dictating the narrative, and that he kind of is very compliant and just goes along," he said.
He may wish to build some bridges, and that is a good sign
Hugo Vickers
"A lot of the things that he says publicly I have always suspected are dictated by her. So I do wonder a little bit whether he isn't trying to establish himself more in his own right."
However, the expert hinted Meghan could still be behind everything.
He said: "It could be that she commends this idea because it gives him more of a a profile and sort of ups his game, and therefore, when they go out together in public, they're more valuable."
But Mr Vickers did not believe Harry's light hearted solo endeavors, such as the tattoo shop and Jimmy Fallon appearance, "did him any credit".
"He's done a lot of good favours to them, but very little to himself. In my view," said the expert.
Speaking of Harry going solo across the past few weeks, Mr Vickers suggested he could be pining for his old way of life - especially as he reflects on turning 40.
"I mean I can understand it, that he must miss his friends, and he must miss the the system to some extent," he said.
"I mean, you know, he was appointed Captain General of the Royal Marines. That's a very important position.
"He could have done a lot of things. The late Queen gave the two of them the whole of the Commonwealth to explore and work on, which is a massive and terribly important organization.
Meghan Markle & Prince Harry’s brand is over-hyped & under-delivers
By Matt Wilkinson and Summer Raemason
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry's brand "over-promised" and "under-delivered", slammed an expert.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have tried their hand at several business ventures but author Mark Borkowski told The Sun's Royal Exclusive show it's "like trying to brand snow in a hail storm".
The couple raised eyebrows when they 'reinvented' themselves and controversially changed the Archewell website using their royal titles.
Their personal projects have since swirled in drama, from Megan's promise of a cooking show about love and friendship - to Harry's series on the elite sport polo.
Talking to The Sun's royal editor, Matt Wilkinson, Mr Borkowski said: "They stuck together and didn't take advice, and it became a catalogue of these things, they over-promised a lot of their products they were going to bring.
"It started off being this brand that was going to set up a well-meaning foundation, they're going to do this great work.
"It was over-hyped and over-promised, and when you over-promise, then under-deliver, then you become the story.
"There's a feeding frenzy around the negativity, there was never any positivity."
He added: "They cannot carry on doing the same thing, what's happened to this new jam brand that she's bringing out? I mean how ridiculous is that, who does she want to be? The next Martha Stewart?
"I think you see desperation slipping in now and that should be an indication to say 'let's start again and learn from the royal family, post Diana', bring people in who know their stuff.
"Build a team out of that, instead of 'yes people' to do what you want, backed up by some Rottweiler of a lawyer who's going to send out letters to every last person.
"The way they're going about it is akin to trying to brand snow in a hail storm."
It comes after Meghan's lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard suffered a fresh blow earlier this month.
Since announcing the company, the former Suits actress is yet to roll out anything other than jams and dog biscuits - products that have only been gifted to her A-lister pals so far.
Meghan has also faced multiple hurdles in her launch, including 'struggling' to secure a CEO, her team filling in the official forms incorrectly, and failing to send enough cash.
These issues came in addition to a bitter dispute over exclusive rights to the name American Riviera Orchard.
Her team, led by top US attorney Marjorie Witter Norman under Meghan's fledgling Mama Knows Best LLC firm, applied to the Patent and Trademark Office in the States for legal protection to exclusively trade using the name ‘American Riviera Orchard’.
But the application, filed in March, has been rejected and now she has three months to amend the request - or it will be removed from the register.
She has been told she can't have exclusive rights to ‘American Riviera’ because it is a commonly used place name to describe the California coast.
"Evidently that wasn't enough for Meghan.
"I don't think he'll want to come back as a working member of the royal family, but he may wish to build some bridges, and that is a good sign."
On the future of Harry and Meghan's relationship, Mr Vickers added "personally think it's quite likely to not end too well for [Harry]".
Regarding rumours swirling their marriage, the expert suggested they may stay together - to preserve their image.
"It is possible that they need to keep stay together to keep their brand," he said.
"But actually, as we've seen, with a number of other people who've acquired titles, she probably would hang on to the Duchess of Sussex title, even if she wasn't with him.
"There'll probably come a time when she feels she can do it on her own.
"That's what I've always secretly thought in the background.
"But at the moment I guess she does need him, and you know they have a young family, and I'm sure they take that very seriously, and young children need to have their parents around them.
"So there are many reasons for them staying together other than the brand."
It comes after Harry spent this week in New York on a solo trip without wife Meghan Markle.
The duke revealed what 'gives him hope' and honoured Princess Diana while he discussed mental health while talking at an event for the Halo Trust - a landmine charity which was close to Di's heart.
Harry addressed winners, Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang from Indonesia, and Christina Williams from Jamaica.
He kicked off his New York trip with a glitzy dinner.
He was pictured during a high-level dinner organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Big Apple on Sunday.
Next Monday he is scheduled to host the WellChild awards in London.
Royal expert Phil Dampier said: "It is significant that he is doing so much on his own now.
"They are living more separate lives as it looks like Harry is trying to carve out what exactly his future is.
"I suspect Harry has been feeling very much like a spare part.
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"He wants more fulfilling roles for himself so we may well be seeing more of him here."
The Sussexes have been contacted for comment.
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