The Duke of Sussex has spent this week on a solo trip to New York taking part in charity initiatives and even making an on-screen cameo on a popular US talk show, but an expert has claimed it highlighted one major problem.

Prince Harry was the main guest at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Tuesday, where he gave a heartfelt speech about online safety and spoke touchingly about his mother Princess Diana during a panel discussion about the Diana Award.

But royal historian, Dr Tessa Dunlop, said Meghan’s absence made Harry’s brand look a “little thin” because of the couple’s joint ventures in the past.

She told the Mirror: “Alone Harry had been a second-rung royal or, in his words, the Spare. Meghan a bit-part Hollywood actress in a series called Suits. Together they were mega. Megabucks and mega stars. Nothing could stop them, not even a ‘manly pep talk’ from that other renegade, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.”

She added: “But out on his own again, the Duke’s brand looks, well, a little thin, no matter how good Harry is at his American royal-adjacent role (very, as it turns out).”

Meghan Markle has reportedly remained at their home in Montecito, California, with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

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