An ambitious plan to establish the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as a major US ‘power couple’ to rival the Clooneys or the Obamas has failed, says one royal expert.

The couple are increasingly pursuing different priorities, Richard says

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s dreams of making it as a power couple across the pond appear to be crumbling, one royal expert claims.

Speaking on the Palace Confidential podcast, Daily Mail Diary editor Richard Eden says that Meghan and Harry are “are separating in terms of their their strategies”. He said that the original branding of the Sussex as a “power couple” in the vein of the Cloooneys or even the Obamas seems to be being reconsidered.

He continued: “When they recorded their first podcast, it was very much them together. It was the pilot episode and that was going to be the pattern: them together. We saw that again on the Netflix series, but for whatever reason – whether it’s Megan or it’s Harry – they’ve decided that’s not the way to go.”

Prince Harry appears to be looking back at former glories, the experts said

Certainly the couple seem to be working to fulfil their lucrative Netflix deal with separate, and very different projects. Meghan has filmed a cookery and lifestyle show, expected to be broadcast next year, while Harry’s made a Netflix programme polo.

Their A-list power couple dream “lies in tatters,” according to Richard, pointing out Meghan did not join her husband on his recent trip to New York City. Royal author and broadcaster Victoria Murphy agreed with him, saying that while Meghan seemed keen to plough ahead with business projects, Harry seemed to be looking wistfully at his royal past.

She said: “What Harry seems to be doing is focusing on philanthropy. His most successful projects, the ones that resonate the most with people are the ones that were set up when he was a working royal – so the Invictus games his patronage of Wellchild for example…”

Meghan’s focus is on building a lifestyle brand

By contrast, Victoria added that “Meghan seems to be more business-focused now”. The Duchess is spending a lot of time on her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand, which has run into a few last-minute snags with her choice of name, reminiscent of the couple’s short-lived “Sussex Royal” branding.

Richard’s colleague Charlotte Griffiths added that her royal sources were telling her that Harry was “looking backwards to the peak Harry era”, when his popularity was riding high with philanthropic initiatives such as the Sentabale charity an the Invicyus games.

She said: “We loved him then. He was seen holding holding African children in his arms, opening hospitals and schools, raising millions and millions for Africa. That was ‘Peak Harry,’ and I think he’s going through a period of reflection at the moment.”

That eagerness to embrace his successes will see him returning the UK this coming week, as guest of honour at the annual WellChild awards, while Meghan remains behind in Montecito.