Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Warned They Could Fail Without Royal Tradition

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's post-royal brand will not succeed unless they stay tied to the monarchy's "great tradition" of public service, Princess Diana's former aide says.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are forging new careers in California through Netflix, Spotify and investing in an oak milk latte brand.

However, an important figure from his mother's past has offered the prince some advice on how to protect their emerging brand, Archewell, which also includes a non-profit foundation.

Patrick Jephson was Princess Diana's private secretary in the 1990s and watched Harry grow up.

Quoted in the Daily Express, he said: "Harry and Meghan have an evolving brand issue.

"One could argue that, at its best, membership of the royal family gives you access to the most extraordinary and powerful brand in the world.

"To voluntarily divest yourselves of all those advantages in pursuit of something else is very daring—and we don't even know what that something else is.

"But if it departs very much from that great tradition of personal sacrifice and public service that defines the monarchy brand then I don't believe it will succeed."

Jephson worked for the princess during what the press termed the "War of the Waleses," when she was going through the messy breakdown of her relationship with Prince Charles.

He resigned after she did a tell-all TV interview with the BBC without his knowledge in which she spoke publicly about her husband's affair but also admitted cheating herself.

His comments came during a recent virtual conference on promoting and protecting personal brands.

Harry and Meghan have organized their Spotify podcast, Archewell Audio, and Netflix production company, Archewell Productions, with the same branding as their non-profit Archewell Foundation.

The website which promotes all three describes its remit: "At Archewell, we unleash the power of compassion to drive systemic cultural change.

"We do this through our non-profit work within Archewell Foundation 501(c)(3), in addition to creative activations through the business verticals of audio and production."

It adds: "Archewell, through its non-profit work as well as creative activations, drives systemic cultural change across all communities."

Their growing empire has already been estimated at more than $200 million with experts telling Newsweek they have the potential to go on to be worth billions.

Professor Jonathan Shalit, founder of U.K.-based InterTalent Rights Group, told Newsweek in December: "My guess is they'll be the $10 billion royal couple.

"I'll tell you why, the way you become multi-billionaires is you get involved before the shares explode.

"Lots of startups and companies are going to want Meghan and Harry attached to their product so that in turn will create other investors and other shareholders.

"So they're like a shop window for investors. Meghan's going to be a door opener creating opportunities for her partners to get more money.

"Once you get shares and equity and startup companies explode, you can end up being worth billions if you get in at the right time.

"When I say $10 billion dollars I mean that as a trajectory. It could be 10 years."