Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s power couple dreams ‘lie in tatters’ as they officially make plans to ‘separate’

There’s something curious about Prince Harry‘s latest trip. Fresh off his 40th birthday earlier this month, the Duke of Sussex has come to take Manhattan — the prince is on a two-week jaunt to New York City to attend the back-to-back UN and Climate Weeks, seemingly solidifying his transformation from reckless royal to idealistic activist. The only thing is: there’s no Meghan Markle in sight.

The duchess is believed to have fallen ill recently, hence why she was a no-show at Kevin Costner’s star-studded party last weekend, but Meghan was never intended to accompany her husband on his NYC trip in the first place. This is something of a sharp contrast to their traditional habit of making all major public appearances together. Still, Harry has been doing more and more on his own of late, especially anytime he’s forced to return to the U.K.

According to the latest whispers from the sussex camp, this isn’t just a coincidence, but part of a deliberate shift from the couple to go their “separate” ways… If only in a professional sense.

Harry and Meghan end their ambitions to conquer the world together as they execute a “professional separation”

According to what a source told The Daily Mail, Harry and Meghan are officially ending their previously very close professional relationship with immediate effect. No, this doesn’t mean they are divorcing or that their marriage is in trouble in any way, shape, or form. What it does mean is that they have allegedly decided their professional partnership hasn’t proven as successful as hoped for, so now they are developing future ventures separately.

“They will still carry out some charitable engagements together and embark on foreign visits, but their work projects will be separate,” is what the source said. So that means the sussexes’ unofficial royal tours — which are said to cause Harry’s family no end of upset — are due to continue, after the pair just visited Colombia last month.

For the Mail‘s resident royal expert Richard Eden, this means that Harry and Meghan’s dream of becoming “an A-list power couple” now “lies in tatters.” Honestly, though, this may be somewhat hyperbolic. Evidence suggests the duo are simply being drawn to different enterprises these days. As is clear from his NYC trip, Harry wants to become more involved on a philanthropic and humanitarian level, while Meghan continues to focus on her business endeavors — she recently set up her lifestyle and wellness brand, American Riviera Orchard.

We already saw the writing on the wall over this semi-separation, going by what Harry and Meghan have been cooking up for Netflix. While the duchess has a cooking show in the works, Harry has produced a passion project docuseries all about his favorite sport, Polo. This will hit Netflix in December. Although without the dual star power behind it, it’s likely this one won’t cause quite the streaming splash as the couple’s 2022 Netflix show.