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His warning comes after a mere 200 people reposted Meghan’s 40th birthday poem on Instagram, despite her video appeal to download it in support of her new 40×40 project which calls on 40 of her celebrity friends, including Adele and Stella McCartney, to devote 40 minutes of their time to mentoring women trying to return to the workplace following the pandemic. Meghan launched it with an amusing video on her 40th birthday, which featured Harry and actress Melissa McCarthy.

The campaign and video won Meghan huge coverage in the UK but the media and public in the US largely ignored the event.

The Sussexes have already put their name to a number of new ventures, including Meghan’s children’s book and forthcoming wellness title, the couple’s Spotify podcast venture and an Apple TV+ documentary series for Harry alongside Oprah Winfrey.

The senior Hollywood production chief said: “I’m sure they were both surprised and disappointed at how comparatively little coverage her birthday and her new crusade managed to generate in their new homeland.

“But the fact is that while people here are fascinated by the royals in general and Harry and Meghan in particular, they are not obsessed like the folks they left behind in Britain.

“I think many fans in America are not only confused but also a little bored by the social activism.

“It’s great that they seem to support so many worthy causes but most people don’t like to be preached at and, frankly, can’t relate to some of the things they say.

“Sometimes less is more and if Harry and Meghan are really trying to build a massive following for their Archewell brand, they might want to limit their public appearances rather than trying to set the news agenda every week.

“If fans do walk away in boredom or frustration, they are going to find it incredibly hard, if not impossible, to win them back. Just for a while, it might help them if we were to see a little less, rather than more of them on camera.

“As well as being somewhat overexposed, there’s also the risk of spreading themselves too thinly by taking on so much it might prove impossible to accomplish everything they have set out to.” The source’s words are echoed by royal author Margaret Holder.

Writing in today’s Sunday Express, she says Meghan’s birthday video will have made the royals “cringe” as it contained “a few subtly choreographed swipes that might have had the Queen wincing behind the tartan cushions at Balmoral”.

She said Meghan’s 40×40 crusade was “skimming the surface” of the issue, adding: “We used to say that the Royal Family was turning into a soap opera but now it is becoming something else.”

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan have reportedly been approached to make their Hollywood debut as a couple by co-presenting an award at next month’s Emmy ceremony in Los Angeles.

They are already virtually certain to be attendees with Harry’s mental health miniseries The Me You Can’t See ‑ which he co-produced with the couple’s close friend and neighbour Oprah ‑ up for awards in three categories, including Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.

Meghan’s new 40×40 campaign is the latest in a series of career and charity projects for the duchess which have drawn mixed reactions.

In 2019, before she and Harry had settled full-time in America, she wrote inspirational messages, including “you are brave” and “you are strong”, on bananas that were being sent out in food parcels to sex workers in Bristol.

Later that year, the former Suits actress launched an affordable fashion range for a UK charity that provides training and new clothes to wear to interviews for unemployed women in need.

In California, both she and Harry have delivered food parcels to the needy in LA and near their mansion in Santa Barbara during lockdown.

They have taken on a massive workload in America, including their Netflix film and TV deal, Spotify podcasts, voiceovers for Disney, children’s books and paid speeches.

Analysis by Margaret Holder

It wasn’t the worst week for royal embarrassments but it wasn’t far off… 

First, Princess Eugenie’s husband, Jack Brooksbank, was pictured with scantily clad models aboard a yacht. Then Fergie dressed up as a Victorian equestrienne for magazines before bouncing around television studios energetically promoting her first historical novel.

Finally, it was Meghan’s turn to make the royals cringe. She posted her 40th birthday video containing a few subtly choreographed swipes that might have had the Queen wincing behind the tartan cushions at Balmoral.

In it, she chose a Regal Peacock china teacup to teasingly imitate the royal passion for afternoon tea.

The outfit worn by her friend Melissa McCarthy ‑ white gloves, pearls, flowery hat and dress ‑ could be taken as mockery of the Queen .

Meghan’s birthday gift to humanity is 40×40, an initiative to “help women re-entering the workforce” with the assistance of mentors. Forty friends pledged their 40 minutes, and more ‑ including Eugenie ‑ have added their names to the list.

The under-employment of women is a serious matter but Meghan’s comic video skims the surface” of the issue.

Essentially, 40×40 is a good idea but the presentation was simply dripping in treacle.

At 40, Meghan looks as young as her husband behaves. Taking paternity leave from his multi-faceted career as a chief impact officer/commissioner for internet misinformation/Hollywood producer and author, Prince Harry found the time to juggle outside the window.

At 37 next month, he shows two distinct personae: clowning around or seething with anger.

Meghan, at least, seems to have found a direction in life ‑ for the moment ‑ but Harry remains a worry.

“We used to say that the Royal Family was turning into a soap opera but now it is becoming something else.” With Fergie and the Sussexes, the pantomime season has already started.

Margaret Holder is a Royal author

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