Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make foray into politics ahead of US presidential election

Prince Harry and Meghan during a visit to New Zealand in 2018. Photo / Getty Images

It seems Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are venturing into politics in the run-up to the US presidential election this year.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and immigrated to California, have partnered with the AI + Election Security Coalition, which “represents an acceleration of efforts to secure the 2024 election against threats enabled by artificial intelligence (AI).”

The couple’s campaign, which coincides with the upcoming November election, hopes to “prepare US voters for a possible deepfake onslaught during the election year”, according to Axios.

The Sussexes’ public support of the anti-election misinformation initiative marks their latest move in US politics.

Working royals are not allowed to publicly express their opinions when it comes to issues of government. However, Harry and Meghan stepped back from official duties four years ago, and are therefore not expected to adhere to the rules. Since then, they have weighed in on various political matters.

Harry and Meghan shared a clip in 2020 addressing misinformation during the US election. In the video, the Duke of Sussex encouraged hopeful voters to “reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity” and his wife called the showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden “the most important election of our lifetime”.

This screengrab released by Time shows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, hosting a special Time100 talk in 2020, focusing on the digital world. They said the idea was to help make online communities safer and free of misinformation. Photo / AP

The former Suits actress additionally “cold-called” a number of people at the time, urging them to vote, and joined forces with political activist and feminist Gloria Steinem.

In 2021, Markle also headed a campaign for compulsory paid leave in the US, rallying Democratic politicians to front the cause.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s latest move in the political landscape comes just a couple of days after rumours emerged that Prince Harry was planning on reuniting with his brother Prince William in the UK next month.

On May 8, the Prince is set to attend the Invictus Games’ 10th Anniversary service at St Paul’s Cathedral, however, it hasn’t yet been officially confirmed whether his wife will accompany him.

The royal family have been experiencing a challenging time of late, with King Charles and Kate Middleton’s double cancer diagnoses sending waves through the monarchy.

Prince William and the Princess of Wales in London last November. Photo / AP

Royal author Tom Quinn revealed to The Mirror: “William and Kate are really nervous that whether Harry comes alone or with Meghan there are going to be difficulties and a great deal of planning is going on to try to reduce all the inevitable awkwardness and embarrassment.”

“One plan being looked at is to let the brothers appear in public for a short period to try to show they can at least be civil to each other”, he added.

“It’s a question of the lesser of two evils. If Harry comes to the UK in May and avoids his brother and Kate, there will be more damaging speculation than if they try to patch things up just enough to cope with a short meeting.”