bitchy | Page Six: It’s ‘nuts’ for Prince Harry to go to Sundance after suing the Mail!

Throughout this week, I’m going to cover a fraction of the new British & American campaign being waged against Prince Harry. While Harry has been targeted by the tabloids and even legitimate media for years, a new “campaign” has been initiated in the wake of Harry’s testimony against the Mail/ANL last week. Across British and American media, there’s a concerted effort to smear Harry, to attack his character, to mock him as a failure. This is about media collusion, and about “you sue one of us, we’ll all come after you.” That’s how I explain this insulting new piece in Page Six, part of the Murdoch-owned NY Post. Y’all remember that the Murdochs had to pay Harry an eight-figure settlement AND they had to apologize to him and his late mother. Well, now they have “Hollywood sources” who swear that Harry is a failure in California. Some lowlights from P6’s “Royal warrior to sidelined spare: Prince Harry’s failing new life in Hollywood spotlight crumbles.”

Prince Harry went from fighting back tears detailing how his privacy was breached on Wednesday to mingling with wife Meghan Markle and the cream of Hollywood at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday. The dramatic contrast between the two worlds only highlights how far Harry still has to go to move past the ghosts of his past, six years into his new life in California.

“For Harry to go from the hearing [on Wednesday] — and pleading for privacy — to then go to Sundance just days after is nuts,” said one Hollywood source of the royal’s fight with a British newspaper, which he has accused of making Markle’s time in England “absolute misery.”

Prince Harry has said his life in America was what his mother Princess Diana would have “wanted” for him. But the multi-million dollar deals he and Markle signed with some of Hollywood’s biggest companies to prop up their new life have mostly come sputtering to an end, while their charitable Archewell foundation has basically gone kaput.

Harry is without a steady income — and, some around him say, without purpose. And it all raises the question: Is Harry sidelined as the “spare” once again? In some ways, the prince is a glorified house-husband while Markle brings home the (artisanal) bacon … though even that is not going as planned, off the news that her Netflix lifestyle show has ended, following in the footsteps of the Sussex Spotify deal.

The Post is told that the Sussex coffers are rapidly depleting — with one source in the know saying the couple have had to downsize their staffing.

“Harry’s not really doing anything in America,” said the source. “It seems he is still very wrapped up in the past. There have been rumors that Harry is starting a business, but he and Meghan don’t have the best track record. He’s really great at service — look at the success of his Invictus charity. He really should just stick with that.”

Although Harry made a reported $27 million from his 2023 memoir, “Spare,” the cost of the couple’s California life is said to be insanely high. They reportedly spend between $2 million and 3 million a year on security, plus monthly payments on a $10 million mortgage, not to mention costs for house and work staff.

There were rumors about Harry filming a Netflix doc in Africa, but that came to nothing, while the couple’s “Polo” show for Netflix only lasted one season. However, the couple do still have a film adaption of Jasmine Guillory’s “The Wedding Date” for Netflix on the slate, via their Archewell Productions.

“I think Harry’s banking on speaking engagements for income right now,” said the source.

A source said the prince lost touch with his UK pals years ago. “I don’t think they leave the house much,” said the source in the know. “Meghan does, maybe, but not so much Harry.” They’re mainly found hanging out with their kids, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, who attend local schools.

But although Harry and Markle desperately wanted to sprinkle some sunshine on their new life, Montecito resident Gail Pollard told us, “Harry probably came here with a lot of gusto, but a lot of it fell flat. I’d like to see him go back [to England]. That was the feeling in our small community. I don’t care for either one of them. They’re not sincere. They’re doing everything for fame and fortune.”

[From Page Six]

Something notable: this piece came out within 24 hours after Page Six blatantly lied about the Sussexes’ “small turnout” at a Sundance screening. Instead of just reporting the news or gossip straight, they’re lying to make a point, to push an agenda of “Harry and Meghan are flops, Harry specifically.” It feels like the message is in that last part too – the purpose of all of this is to somehow manipulate or maneuver Harry into “going back to the UK.” Enough, Jesus. Also: it continues to crack me up when outlets are like “all of their money is gone, Harry made $27 million from book sales but no one knows where it went!” Are you kidding me? They never mention BetterUp either.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.