Meghan Markle's birthday 'gimmick' quietly shelved after major mistake

Meghan Markle is celebrating her 44th birthday today, and is likely spending the day quietly celebrating at home with her husband Prince Harry, and their two children Archie and Lilibet.

While this year’s birthday is a lowkey affair for the Sussexes, Meghan’s milestone 40th birthday in 2021 was a different story. To celebrate the day, Meghan launched an online initiative to help women get back to work after the height of the pandemic.

The launch of the project came alongside an online video starring Melissa McCarthy, and a cameo from Prince Harry. However, the project was quietly shelved after it never got off the ground. It comes after Prince Harry's devastating loss in royal rift was exposed as Meghan 'holds the cards'.

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The project was titled '40x40', with Meghan asking 40 of her famous friends to commit 40 minutes of their time to mentor and support women as they re-entered the workforce. Meghan then hoped to create a domino effect of counselling wider than her circle.

But soon after the Archewell campaign went live, there was radio silence from the Duchess of Sussex, and the project was quietly shelved.

With the ambitious project disappearing behind the scenes, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail that he believes the initiative was nothing more than a 'gimmick' designed to "boost Meghan’s appeal".

Fitzwilliams said that part of the appeal of the project, other than it being a unique way to celebrate Meghan’s 40th birthday, was the fact that she had many famous faces onboard to promote gender equality.

Some of the names tied to the project were Adele, Melissa McCarthy, Princess Eugenie, Stella McCartney and Serena Williams. However, Fitzwilliams said that the A-list names were not enough to get the “poorly organised” project off the ground.

The royal expert said: “There was never any clear idea of how it would be funded or how exactly it would be beneficial to spend just 40 minutes with someone. It was clearly just a gimmick designed to boost Meghan’s appeal, which she may have overestimated both then and now."

Fitzwilliams added that as part of the 40x40 project, "Meghan recommended ‘time spent in service to others’, a topic about which she knows very little, though she did, as a senior working royal, have the chance to serve and didn’t last long in it."

The royal commentator believes that Meghan’s failed birthday initiative started a pattern of behaviour of the Duchess under-delivering with her projects. He cited Meghan’s Netflix series titled With Love, Meghan, which failed to crack into the top 300 shows on the streaming giant.

He also mentioned Meghan’s podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, which has been shelved at the end of the first season. While the podcast will be returning at some time in the future, Meghan said she is focusing on other projects right now.