'Take a Leaf Out of William's Book': Meghan Markle Blasted for 'Missing a Trick' With Hollywood Elite

Prince William's high-profile appearance at London Climate Action Week on Monday has reignited debate over Meghan Markle's public strategy, with a new opinion piece arguing that the Duchess of Sussex is 'missing a trick' in how she uses her Hollywood connections. Prince William has been more effective than Meghan at turning celebrity links into a consistent, clearly defined philanthropic mission.

The Prince of Wales joined actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Watson at a business forum for The Royal Foundation's United for Wildlife, held as part of the climate-focused week in London. The event also spotlighted William's Earthshot Prize, launched in 2020 to fund solutions to the climate crisis and now a central pillar of his public work. For those who have only half-watched the royal soap opera in recent years, the comparison being drawn is not about whether Meghan cares less, but about whether she has built the same strategic through-line.

According to Michelle Marshall that William has quietly built an ecosystem of celebrity support around one urgent theme: the environment. That strategy, she suggested, stands in contrast to Meghan's broader portfolio of causes, ranging from women's rights and equality to mental health and resilience, which have not yet coalesced into a single, recognisable flagship project.

At the London forum, William described in unusually personal terms why Earthshot matters to him. The prize, he said, helped keep his 'environmental anxiety at bay' and 'helps me sleep at night.' It is a line that has been picked up repeatedly, for obvious reasons. Over just a few years, Earthshot has attracted support from Hollywood names including Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Matthew McConaughey, as well as broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

For Marshall, this is the crucial distinction. 'The one thing the royals have done completely different from the Sussexes is align their charity work with celebrities who are passionate about the same causes,' she wrote. In William's case, those alliances feed back into a single venture that is easy to explain, easy to brand and, importantly, easy to photograph.

How Prince William's Strategy Differs From Meghan Markle's

Meghan has not exactly been short of star power. Through the Archewell Foundation and her Archetypes podcast, she and Prince Harry have hosted and collaborated with a string of high-profile figures, from Serena Williams and Mariah Carey to Paris Hilton. Those conversations focused heavily on female empowerment, stereotypes and public perception, and were widely discussed when the series launched.

The critique is not that Meghan lacks access to Hollywood's upper tier. If anything, she is steeped in it. Instead, Marshall contended that the Duchess has not harnessed those relationships into a singular, consistent advocacy push that the public can immediately associate with her name in the way Earthshot is associated with William. The implication is that Meghan's projects, however earnest, can look scattered to outsiders: a podcast season here, a speech there, a new initiative announced and then overtaken by the next news cycle.

'I totally respect her hustle,' Marshall wrote, before adding that Meghan might have gained more traction by taking 'a leaf out of William's book' and building a network of like-minded celebrities around a tightly defined cause, rather than a rotating set of overlapping themes.

It is, to put it mildly, a loaded comparison. William's Earthshot operation is backed by an established royal foundation, steeped in institutional support and plugged into a global network of governments, corporates and NGOs. Meghan and Harry's Archewell Foundation is newer, more reliant on their personal brand and still working to prove its staying power after the couple's move to the United States. The playing fields are not identical.

Meghan Markle, Hollywood and the Question of Focus

Still, the criticism taps into a persistent narrative around Meghan: that for all her stated passion for social issues, she has not yet turned her star-studded Rolodex into a single, unmissable campaign. Supporters would counter that Meghan's portfolio is deliberately wide because women's rights, mental health and racial equality are intertwined, and cannot be neatly carved into one awards ceremony or prize fund.

It does not claim insider knowledge of Meghan's long-term plans, and there is no confirmation from Archewell that she intends to narrow her focus to one flagship cause. Nothing is confirmed yet, so the speculation about what she 'should' do next ought to be taken with a grain of salt. What is clear is that both she and William are operating in a world where public impact is measured not just in good intentions, but in how cleanly a message can be packaged, repeated and endorsed by familiar faces.

William has a glossy environmental prize fronted by some of the world's most bankable stars, and a narrative about personal 'environmental anxiety' that feels carefully calibrated for the moment. Meghan has an impressive guest list and a set of issues that matter deeply to her, but a looser frame tying them together. Whether she chooses to emulate William's approach, or deliberately chart a different course, will be watched closely on both sides of the Atlantic.