A shocking, unsubstantiated claim has emerged about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s marriage and the source is no less than a “minor royal”.

Popbitch is the deliciously gossipy British newsletter covering politics, media and celebrity that has been around since 2000. It was writing about Harvey Weinstein, Prince Andrew and Fleet Street’s shameful hacking years before anyone else.

Recently, it was Popbitch that broke the news that an unnamed celebrity had had a very unfortunate accident at Gwyneth Patrow’s Hamptons holiday home, one involving sheets so badly besmirched (if not ruined) that the mystery celeb fled in acute embarrassment.

Last month Popbitch ran another item that has received much less attention alleging that a “minor royal has apparently… got money riding on the date that Harry and Meghan are going to split…”

Now leaving aside which “minor royal” this could be (my ten quid is on one of Princess Anne’s bitchier horses), it was this time last year that, for a spell, chatter and noise about the exact state of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s marriage was doing the rounds.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture: Andrew Milligan — WPA Pool/Getty Images
At that time, the Telegraph reported of the Sussexes that “such is their independence from each other that the owner of a leading hotel chain in Montecito recently…[said] they have a room set aside for Harry where he occasionally stays on his own.”

The same piece also claimed that the private Los Angeles members club San Vincente Bungalows, which is two hours away from the duke and duchess’ home, “seems to be his escape place”.

I am mightily pleased to report that, if the times we have seen Harry and Meghan in public in the 12 months since are anything to go on, then everyone can breathe a massive sigh of relief. This year alone, from Vancouver to Austin to Abuja to Lagos to San Diego, the duke and duchess are still holding hands and beaming at one another like they are fresh off their honeymoon and still have the sand in their knickers to prove it.

Still, the last year has solidified what seem to be clear shifts in Sussex Land. Shifts like them increasingly separating their careers and public branding.

The teary, sometimes terse, TV times are long over. Harry and Meghan have moved on from their several years of sharing, sharing, sharing, often as a double act, while red, recording lights blinked and blinked some more.

Now the duke and duchess double act seems to be over, with each taking the lead — and the spotlight — in their designated areas.

A British tabloid suggested a ‘minor royal’ had a bet on when Harry and Meghan would split, but the pair seem very happy still. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
While their original deals with Netflix, Spotify, and Wall Street investment firm Ethic (no, no one has heard anything about this since 2021) were done together, the duke and duchess now seem to be following independent professional stars.

Apparently there has been some sort of decision that the Sussexes should pursue paths more aligned with their natural interests and where Harry doesn’t have to be restrained from snaffling spoonfuls of buttercream out of the mixing bowl while his wife and the cameras aren’t looking.

On the duke’s side of Checkpoint Gnarly we have his work as the Chief Impact Officer of BetterUp, his hugely successful Invictus Games and the polo TV show he is currently filming.

And on the duchess’ side we have her having signed on with mega-agent Ari Emanuel at WME, having signed a deal with Lemonada Media to make podcasts, her continued work on gender equality, her having just wrapped shooting on her lifestyle TV show, and her having unveiled the branding, but as yet no actual saleable products, for her nascent business American Riviera Orchard.

Then there is the Great UK No Go Zone.

The couple continue to be each other’s staunchest, most devoted supporters charity-wise, with the duke travelling to Texas to watch his wife take part in an International Women’s Day panel at the SXSW festival in March and the duchess travelling with Harry to for their hugely successful tours of Canada and Nigeria for Invictus.

They are clearly each others’ biggest cheerleaders — except that is when it comes to anything in Britain. On six occasions now since the beginning of 2023 the duke has made the flight from Los Angeles to Heathrow with no one to accompany him besides his paid bodyguards and an iPad preloaded with The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**K… About If Your Dad And Brother Won’t Take Your Calls.

The last time that Meghan was in the land that gave the world the cucumber sandwich was in September 2022 for the late Queen’s funeral. Since then it is Harry, and Harry only, who has journeyed back for an alleged hacking court case, to give evidence in another alleged hacking court case, for the King Charles’ coronation, for the 2023 WellChild Awards, to see his father after his cancer diagnosis, and for the 10 years of Invictus service at St Paul’s Cathedral in May.

The couple have been supporting one another around the world. Picture: Andrew Esiebo/Getty Images for The Archewell Foundation
While the duke and duchess are, in her words, “like salt and pepper” and “always move together”, the hard red line here would appear to be if and when Harry is going to cross the international date line and enter UK airspace.

Maybe Meghan’s absence from Harry’s side on all these occasions was actually down to their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, being far too small to leave on their own or the duchess having an immovable private pickleball lesson that very afternoon.

Or maybe it has more to do with her time in the UK being so traumatic that even seeing a Union Jack requires several minutes of Wim Hof breathing exercises to make her feel better.

However, if this continues, what could this mean for Harry’s chances of any sort of tentative bridge-building with his family?

There is one more thing to say here — something else notable has happened this month in terms of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s romance.

Nearly eight years ago exactly, on July 3, 2016, Harry, probably a man with permanent Playstation controller imprints on his hands back then, was set up on a date with an educated, successful woman with shocking things to her name such as a career and thoughts of her own and feminist views.

The rest, as we know of course, is history, and what continues to be a love story.