As mentioned yesterday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle came out of the weekend on a high from their smash hit of a weekend in Nigeria. Then, midway through the day, Page Six had an exclusive: their charity, Archewell Foundation, has been declared delinquent by the California Register of Charities and Fundraisers. “Delinquent” is a harsh word, with a nefarious connotation. So if you were just reading the headline, you would have assumed that Harry and Meghan’s Archewell was up to some shady sh-t.
It turns out, however, that this amounts to a paperwork issue. Archewell was called out for “failing to submit required annual report(s) and/or renewal fees”.
“A source close to Archewell tells PEOPLE that the foundation's tax filings were completed in compliance with all regulations and were widely reported in December. The California state filing, renewal and necessary payment were sent via tracked mail to the Attorney General's Office and were received on schedule. Any claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.”
If you are neutral on Harry and Meghan, this is a shrug. There’s been an administrative error involving renewal fees. Those who are not for Harry and Meghan, though, well, you can imagine how this is going over. It was a gift to the British tabloids and the haters who insist that these two are grifters.
What I’m wondering about is the timing. The timing is curious, non? Here they are, just days after Harry was warmly received upon his return to England in support of the Invictus Games, followed by his and Meghan’s triumphant tour in Nigeria, and suddenly there’s a “bombshell” on whether or not their foundation is legit…
Coincidence or conspiracy?
If it’s just a coincidence, fine. The Sussexes and their team at Archewell might want to tighten up their administrative processes because, first of all, it’s just good business, especially when it’s not a business and it’s a non-profit and, having worked in non-profit myself, you always want to be extra conscientious when you’re asking people for money that they’ve given under the expectation that it will be used philanthropically. But also in their case, since they have always been such a heatscore, there will always be people looking to criticise or use any excuse to undermine their intentions and jeopardise their progress which, in the long run, hurts the people and the organisations they are aiming to support and uplift.
If it’s a conspiracy, though, well that’s related too. It was advantageous for whoever had this information to drop it when they did. And if it’s a conspiracy the reason was to take the shine off of Harry and Meghan’s Nigerian triumph. But who would benefit from that?
