On Friday morning, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sent a virtual holiday card on behalf of their foundation, Archewell. It showed a picture of them smiling and clapping at the 2023 Invictus Games in Düsseldorf—the multi-sport tournament for wounded and injured veterans that Prince Harry founded in 2014. “We wish you a very Happy Holiday Season,” the digital image read. “Thanks for all the support.” Upon clicking, it redirected to a landing page for the Archewell Foundation’s Impact Report for 2022 to 2023.
The 28-page document highlights the charitable activities undertaken by the formal royal couple and their team. A select few examples: for International Women’s Day, they created a baby boutique for Harvest Home, which serves to help at-risk expecting mothers. They also launched the Welcome Project, which aims to combat loneliness felt by Afghan refugees by creating social communities through activities like sewing, hiking, and cooking. And their advocacy for ethical media continues apace: they helped finance independent research reports such as “Online Hate Speech in Australia: The Role of News Media and Pathways” by the social impact group Purpose.
It’s a sleekly presented document with easy-to-read graphics and artfully selected images that show a mix of the couple themselves and their projects. Scrolling through, it feels professional and, well, tangible: while the Archewell Foundation revealed little-to-no financial information, they did provide specific examples of what, exactly, the foundation has done over the calendar yet.
Photo: Courtesy of Archewell
Which is important. After their deal with Spotify—where the company and the Sussexes decided to part ways after producing only a single season of one podcast—the output, and therefore value, of the couple came into question. Was their only worth talking about the royal family? And considering they’d already done an Oprah interview, a six-part Netflix documentary, and a book on the matter. . . was that well fully exhausted? (Then there was the other noise. In May, the couple claimed they were involved in a “near-fatal” car chase in New York City—only for that account to be downplayed by law enforcement. They kept a low profile in the months following.)
Slowly but surely, however, they tiptoed back into the spotlight. Their appearances were servicey, rather than splashy: an engagement with San Diego Navy Seals in November, and a panel for World Mental Health Day in October. For the first time in some time, there was not much sensational to say about the Sussexes.
The calm waters continue with their holiday card, which is succinct and straightforward. It’s focused on only one thing: their work. Which, after all that, seems like the necessary path for the couple to be on.
