Photo: Getty
They went Hollywood for help with the new image.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Mar 05, 2020
For many young girls, being a princess seems like the ultimate dream job. Meghan Markle got to try it out — well, she got to try out being a Duchess married to a Prince — and found that the reality didn't live up to the dream. As for her husband, Prince Harry, at sixth in line to the throne currently occupied by his grandmother, there may not have been much allure to the royal life anymore, either.
The royal couple recently announced that they wanted to stop being full-time royals, with all the limits that entail. The couple wants to expand their charitable work and there are even hints that Markle is looking to get back into acting, a career she left to marry the Prince.
The change has caused friction within Prince Harry's family but the couple isn't dissuaded. They are pushing forward with this new phase of life and they have staffed up to make it happen. One of their key decisions was bringing on a PR firm to help them rebrand. It's been reported the couple is working with Keleigh Thomas Morgan of the firm Sunshine Sachs.
Who is Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's publicist? Read on for all the details.
1. The couple wants to make a new life for themselves.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markel got married in 2018 and it seemed like a fairy tale. He is an actual Prince and she is a bi-racial American actress. They appeared to be very much in love and ready for happily ever after. Not long after the wedding, they announced they were expecting their first child together.
But life as a professional member of the British royal family is apparently stifling. There are a million rules about everything from what you wear (pantyhose are a must) to what charities you endorse to what color nail polish you can wear. Add to all of that a tabloid industry that thrives on bashing the royals and family tension between the prince and his brother and sister in law and its no wonder that the couple started to consider other options.
2. The couple wants to try a different sort of life.
In January, the royal couple announced that they would be stepping back from the job of being full-time senior royals, choosing instead to start an independent life for themselves. They planned to stop taking a stipend from the government for their royal duties and expected to split their time between the UK and Canada. They made tentative announcements about expending their charitable activities and rumors were flying that Markle wanted to return to acting. That was fueled by their statement that they wanted to be financially independent. However, they don't really need day jobs, as Prince Harry is reportedly worth $25 million, much of that coming from an inheritance left to him by his mother, the late Princess Diana. He also receives money from his father's Duchy of Cornwall, which is distributed at the discretion of Prince Charles. As for Markle, she is worth a reported $5 million so they could live quite comfortably even without Markle ever stepping in front of a camera again.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their transition in January.
3. They hired a PR firm to manage the transition.
One of the things that anyone in a public job knows is that you can't manage your image without assistance. As early as September, the couple started working with PR professionals to manage the fallout from their royal depature announcement. They could have chosen a British firm with significant experience dealing with royal issues but decided instead of work with Sunshine Sachs, a PR company based in New York with offices in LA, Atlanta, Washington DC and Austin.
4. What is Sunshine Sachs and what other clients does the firm have?
One of the company's strengths must be discretion. Their website doesn't brag about their famous clients and even their LinkedIn page only hs a vague description of their services and staff. According to reports, they work with Leonardo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Lopez and Michael Jackson’s family. They specialize in crisis management and was allegedly involved in managing the scandal after Justin Timberlake revealed Janet Jackson's nipple during a Super Bowl halftime show.
5. The firm allegedly used underhanded tactics.
Every PR firm tries to spin the best possible story about their clients. That's the whole point of PR. But Sunshine Sachs got caught using a questionable technique in 2015. Word got out that staff of Sunshine Sachs had been altering clients' Wikipedia pages to erase negative information. They allegedly change the entries for clients including Sarah Brightman and Naomi Campbell.
6. The firm also has alleged troubling associations.
Ken Sunshine, one of the firm's founders was one of Harvey Weinstein's defenders when the now-convicted-rapist was accused of sexual assault way back in 2015. Sunshine acted as a spokesman for Weinstein after a 22-year-old model accused him of assaulting her in New York City. “We are cooperating fully with the authorities and are confident that we will be fully vindicated,” Sunshine Sachs said at the time. No charges were ever brought in that case.
To deepen the connection between Weinstein and Sunshine Sacks, the head of the LA office is Keleigh Thomas Morgan, who worked at Weinstein's production company Miramax for five years beginning in 1997. Morgan was Markle's publicist when she was still acting and is rumored to be working directly with the couple now.
For now, the pair have been working on building up their new charitable foundation but they haven't announced any other plans for their future yet.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. She is the creator of the blog FeminXer and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.