For Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the problem may no longer be getting people to notice them. The harder challenge is proving they can create something people want even when their fame is not the main attraction.

That distinction has become especially uncomfortable following the theatrical performance of Cookie Queens, the documentary directed by Alysa Nahmias and produced by Meghan. The film arrived with festival attention, distribution and two of the world’s most recognizable names associated with it.

What it did not produce was an impressive opening weekend.

According to Ynetnews, Cookie Queens premiered at Sundance in January 2026 and attracted considerable attention before Roadside Attractions acquired it for U.S. distribution. It reached American theaters on August 7 with early expectations that it might become a success.

Instead, the documentary earned approximately $327,797 from 446 theaters during its opening weekend — around $735 per location.

Then came an even more embarrassing comparison.

CatVideoFest 2026, a 71-minute compilation of viral cat videos, reportedly made approximately $569,000 from just 255 theaters.

The comparison inevitably created jokes. But royal commentator Kinsey Schofield believes the larger problem requires a much more serious response.

Her advice to Harry and Meghan is surprisingly simple:

Disappear.

At least professionally, and at least temporarily.

The Sussexes may need silence more than another publicity campaign

“If I had the opportunity, I would tell them to disappear professionally for a period of time,” Schofield told Page Six.

But her proposal is not simply that Harry and Meghan retreat after an embarrassing result.

She wants them to use that absence strategically.

Schofield recommends that they “dramatically reduce the number of announcements and press releases” and identify one project capable of generating genuine interest.

That project, she argues, should also be surrounded by experienced professionals capable of executing it effectively.

Her reasoning challenges a familiar celebrity strategy.

When a public image is struggling, the instinct can be to rebrand, announce something new and generate another wave of publicity.

Schofield thinks Harry and Meghan should do precisely the opposite.

“Reputations can be repaired,” she said, “but I don’t think it will happen through another rebrand or another glossy PR campaign.”

Her alternative:

“Less talking, fewer announcements and more doing.”

And perhaps her most important observation is that success itself can repair a damaged professional reputation.

“Create something people cannot ignore, and suddenly the conversation changes.”

Their problem may be trying to become everything at once

Harry and Meghan have faced several professional setbacks since stepping back from royal duties in January 2020.

Their Netflix arrangement has produced mixed results, while Spotify publicly expressed disappointment after Meghan’s heavily promoted podcast ambitions did not develop as expected.

Schofield believes these outcomes may be connected to a broader strategic problem.

“When you try to establish authority in every field simultaneously, you can end up establishing authority in none of them,” she said.

That diagnosis is important because it shifts the discussion away from whether Harry and Meghan are famous enough.

Clearly, they are.

The question becomes whether that fame has been converted into expertise or credibility in any particular area.

Schofield’s proposed solution is straightforward:

“Choose one area, become good at it and allow success to rebuild your credibility.”

Instead of repeatedly expanding the Sussex brand, she wants them to narrow it.

Fame cannot continue being the product

Perhaps Schofield’s sharpest criticism concerns what Harry and Meghan are actually selling.

She says they need to:

“stop treating their fame and status as the product.”

Instead, they should begin:

“creating products strong enough to succeed without their fame and status.”

Cookie Queens makes that argument especially relevant.

The documentary had Meghan’s involvement, significant attention from Sundance and U.S. theatrical distribution. Yet its opening numbers were weak enough for its performance against CatVideoFest to become part of the story.

That does not mean one documentary defines an entire career.

But it does demonstrate the danger of assuming celebrity automatically creates an audience.

A famous producer can make people aware that a film exists.

The film still has to persuade them to watch it.

“Get off the stage”

Schofield goes even further.

Her advice for Harry and Meghan is to “get off the stage.”

That does not necessarily mean abandoning entertainment.

Instead, she argues that they should stop trying to control every decision surrounding their projects and allow experienced professionals to take greater responsibility.

There is an important difference between being the person attracting attention to a project and being the person ensuring that project works.

Schofield appears to believe Harry and Meghan would benefit from allowing the work itself — rather than their celebrity — to occupy the center of the stage.

That would also create a much tougher but healthier test of their post-royal careers.

Can something associated with them succeed because it is genuinely good rather than because audiences are fascinated by the Sussexes?

There is another subject they eventually have to leave behind

Then comes the Royal Family.

“There are only so many times you can tell the public why you left the royal family,” Schofield said.

That statement identifies perhaps the central contradiction of Harry and Meghan’s entertainment career.

Their royal history is one of the biggest reasons the world knows who they are.

But if they want careers independent of the monarchy, they cannot depend forever on public curiosity about royal grievances.

Schofield argues that Harry and Meghan must prove audiences care about:

“their taste, their ideas and the stories they tell even when the monarchy is not the focus.”

That is a much more demanding standard than simply generating publicity.

It requires them to become creators rather than subjects.

And that may explain why Cookie Queens matters despite being only one project.

Its disappointing performance arrives after other professional setbacks and provides critics with another opportunity to question whether the Sussexes have discovered what their post-royal identity actually is.

The solution Schofield proposes is almost anti-celebrity.

Stop announcing.

Stop rebranding.

Stop making fame itself the product.

Pick one field. Find experienced people. Make something excellent. Let the result speak first.

Harry and Meghan have spent years proving they can command attention.

Perhaps the next stage of their career requires something much harder: being quiet long enough to create something that does not need Prince Harry or Meghan Markle’s names to convince people it deserves attention.