- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have started their own charitable foundation, just weeks after officially resigning from the charity they shared with Prince William and Kate Middleton.
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced in June that they would be leaving the Royal Foundation to start their own charity.
- The charity’s name has been revealed as Sussex Royal – the same name as their Instagram handle, which has acquired more than 9 million followers since the couple began posting in April.
- The couple’s PR manager, Sarah Latham, who previously worked as Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign advisor, has been named as a director of the charity.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially registered their new charity, Sussex Royal, just weeks after resigning from Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Royal Foundation.
The couple announced in June that they planned on leaving the Foundation, which they shared with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in order to start their own charity.
However, no further details have been released until now.
The couple's charity will be called "Sussex Royal The Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex," as first announced by royal commentator Emily Andrews on Twitter.
Exclusive: #Harry & #Meghan’s new foundation will be called “Sussex Royal” (full title “Sussex Royal The Foundation of the D&D of Sussex). Its 4 directors are the Sussexes, PR guru Sara Latham & former Royal Foundation staffer Natalie Campbell, who will be the new director. pic.twitter.com/604czSjQEw
— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) July 17, 2019
A photo of the company's registration certificate shows Harry and Markle registered the charity as a private company on July 1 - less than two weeks after they officially resigned from the Royal Foundation on June 21.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told INSIDER "there are no plans currently to release any further information about Sussex Royal," however this hasn't stopped royal watchers from making predictions about the new charity.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told INSIDER that the charity, which is likely to focus on environmental issues, community, and gender equality, will have strong links to the couple's social media.
"The new charity is likely to have enormous global reach," said Fitzwilliams, former editor of "The International Who's Who."
"It is certainly a curious name for a charity but it has a contemporary feel to it and it ties in with their hugely popular Instagram account, which now has over 9 million followers. So this makes sense in a world dominated by social media."
The couple started their Instagram account, @sussexroyal, back in April - an indication that the marketing campaign for the charity has been in the works for quite some time.
Every month, Harry and Markle rotate the accounts that they are following so they can shine a light on different charitable issues. In the past, they have focused on mental health accounts and LGBT accounts, and for the month of July, they are strictly following environmental accounts.
Their work on social media has led them to be ranked as two of TIME's most influential people on the internet, in a new list published this week.
"The focus on the environment and community will undoubtedly lead to highly publicized campaigns," Fitzwilliams added.
"The former is undoubtedly inspired by the Prince of Wales's campaigning which began in 1968. The focus on community will undoubtedly have an emphasis on young people and also on gender equality. Meghan has been active in this field since her protest against a sexist advertisement when she was 11."
Fitzwilliams added that the charity will benefit from "their close links with celebrities and access to world leaders," however the couple's choice of Sarah Latham as the company's director could be a mistake.
"Their choice of Sara Latham, their top PR adviser, as a Director, is not unexpected, but it is important that she ensures that their public relations are in future more successful than they have been recently," he added.
Latham, who previously worked with Hilary Clinton on her presidential campaign in 2016, has been subject to criticism for the way in which the couple's PR has been handled recently.
The couple irked royal watches after announcing that the details surrounding Archie's christening - including the identity of his godparents - would be kept private.
While previous royal christenings, such as the christenings of Prince William and Kate Middleton's children, allowed the public and photographers to take pictures of guests entering and leaving the ceremony, this was not allowed at Archie's ceremony.
In the same week, it was announced that British taxpayers spent $3 million on the couple's home renovations. This sparked a national debate as to how much privacy the royals should be entitled to while living on public funds.
