Prince Harry, Duchess Meghan hire Hollywood PR firm for travel organization
FBN's Ashley Webster explains why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby could face a U.S. tax liability when he or she reaches adulthood.
If it’s broke, just fix it.
According to a report from British tabloid The Sun, that is what has happened since one of Hollywood's favorite communications and crisis management firms, Manhattan-based Sunshine Sachs, is now representing the Duchess of Sussex, formerly known as Meghan Markle.
The report goes on to say that the move was a “massive break from royal tradition” and “went behind the backs of Buckingham Palace advisers,” all in an attempt to restore her image.
However, in an exclusive statement sent to FOX Business from James Holt of Royal Communications, there hasn’t been any collusion.
“Sunshine Sachs have been supporting us with outreach and coordination in the US around the launch of Travalyst — the global initiative which launched today,” Holt's statement said.
“This is a project being led by Sussex Royal, the new Foundation for the Duke and Duchess — but as we’re still in our infancy and still being established, we felt it was necessary to get external support,” Holt shared about the third-party hire.
Typically, initiatives such as these are handled by Buckingham Palace’s Global PR Chief Sara Latham, who has represented political heavyweights like Hillary and Bill Clinton. Instead, the campaigns for Travalyst will be overseen by Chief Executive Shawn Sachs and Keleigh Thomas Morgan of Sunshine Sachs.
“Any cost of this work is being met privately,” Holt added.
Travalyst, which made its debut Tuesday in Amsterdam via Prince Harry, is a sustainable tourism organization that is partnered with Visa, Booking.com, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Ctrip. The international travel operation comes hot off the tails of last month’s “flight controversy,” which involved the young royals and their usage of private jets in Nice, France.
"As tourism inevitably grows, it is critically important to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices worldwide; and to balance this growth with the needs of the environment and the local population," Harry said in a statement on the Travalyst website. "Bringing companies, consumers and communities together is our best chance to protect destinations and ecosystems for the future generation."
Aside from being vocal advocates about the danger of climate change, the prince and the duchess are rumored to looking for a home in Malibu, California, according to the Daily Mail — which doesn’t make the hiring of Sunshine Sachs look too unusual.
Moreover, Sunshine Sachs has represented Markle in the past when she was an actress on the TV drama “Suits,” according to The Sun’s report.
It also said the U.S.-based PR firm has “been guiding her through recent high-profile incidents, including a guest edit of [British] Vogue magazine,” where she interviewed former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Other famous clients the report said Sunshine Sachs represents include Ben Affleck, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Snoop Dogg and Natalie Portman.
Additionally, The Sun said the firm represented “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett in his recent hate crime controversy.
According to a report by The New York Times, Sunshine Sachs used Wikipedia scrubbing tactics to remove undesirable details for its clients Naomi Campbell, Mia Farrow and Sarah Brightman.
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This article has been updated with a comment from Sunshine Sachs that states Michael Jackson and Harvey Weinstein were not former clients.