Meghan Markle Signing with Talent Agency WME and Taking the Slow and Steady Approach is the Right Move, Royal Expert Says

Meghan Markle at the 2023 Invictus Games

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 16 October 2023

Meghan Markle is emerging back into the spotlight after three years more or less away from it—by choice—following her and Prince Harry’s step back as working members of the royal family in January 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic that followed soon after. Though front-facing with sporadic appearances (albeit major, major ones, like the Oprah Winfrey sit-down in March 2021, attending the Platinum Jubilee in June 2022 and Her late Majesty’s funeral three months later, and the Harry & Meghan docuseries on Netflix in December 2022), Meghan has been largely under the radar for over three years, but we’ve seen her more and more since she signed with powerhouse talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) this past April.

Meghan Markle at the Archewell Foundation's mental health summit

Royal expert Jack Royston believes this move—signing with WME and specifically Ari Emanuel—has turned the tide in her favor, The Daily Express reports. In fact, it’s one of the most empowering moves Meghan could make, said Royston, who covers the royal family for Newsweek. WME not only represents Meghan but also the likes of Jessica Alba, Matt Damon, and Joaquin Phoenix; though the public may not yet be able to see the “tangible” results of Meghan’s signing six months later, Royston said the slow and steady approach to success will ultimately work to Meghan’s benefit, given how much outrage is (ridiculously) sparked whenever Meghan jumps head-first into a venture.

Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games 2023

“In terms of the online world, six months is a short space of time that you can use to start building behind the scenes,” a public relations agent who works with Hollywood celebrities said to Royston. “That would have been a sensible approach, slowly building behind the scenes and working out who she is and how she wants to come across, because she’s had a lot of stick.”

As The Daily Express points out, Harry and Meghan’s relationship with WME may go further back than we’re even fully aware of—Harry thanked WME’s head of literary Jennifer Rudolph Walsh in his book, Spare, suggesting a deeper relationship than may be immediately evident on the surface.

The challenge going forward, Royston said, is for the couple to stay ahead of public conjecture about them, writing their own narrative instead of having it written for them—a task WME is equipped to help handle.

“It is a recurring feature of Harry and Meghan that speculation about them tends to build whenever a vacuum of information is allowed to develop,” Royston said. “This was seen most recently when they took a step out of the limelight for several months and unfounded rumors began circulating that they were secretly getting a divorce.”

The next year in Meghan’s life will be one to watch, no doubt—and we can’t wait to see what happens.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.