Meghan And Harry's Big New Charity Problem
It was supposed to be their exit strategy from the monarchy: Archewell, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's charitable foundation. But between red tape, the coronavirus pandemic, and the crisis of racist law enforcement in the U.S., this royal passion project is turning into a royal mess. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now saying Archewell — named for their one-year-old son, Archie — won't launch till next year (via The Telegraph). But if they don't fix some clerical errors, their passion project may never get off the ground.
Meghan and Harry, who now live in Los Angeles, created Archewell because they hoped to "do something of meaning, to do something that matters," they told The Telegraph in April. With Meghan's activist roots and the legacy of philanthropy Harry inherited from mother Princess Diana, the duo had an ambitious vision for Archewell. They planned education, counseling, support groups and a wellbeing website. These ideals, unfortunately, were not matched with attention to detail.
The blunder came with the trademark application, which was filed on March 3. It wasn't signed, and they did not pay the registration fee, according to a June 17 report by The Sun. The paperwork also got pushback because it was too vague. There were nine different places where the wording needs to be clarified (via Fox News). Their attorney has six months to address these errors.. or it's curtains for Archewell.
Harry and Meghan's main focus is now Black Lives Matter
Whether the royal couple will actually get around to dotting those i's and crossing those t's remains to be seen. Meghan and Harry reportedly have shifted their humanitarian focus entirely to the Black Lives Matter movement (via Marie Claire). Since racism and police brutality have overtaken the global stage, Archewell has been most definitely back-burnered.
Meghan could not have been more clear about how important it is to her to address racism. At a virtual graduation speech delivered to her alma mater, Immaculate Heart, Meghan said, "I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered" (via People).
Even before police brutality overtook international conversations a few weeks ago, Archewell had faded as a priority. Being quarantined in Los Angeles due to the coronavirus, and the pandemic's impact on the world, had become top of mind (via The Observer).