Meghan and Harry to wade into U.S. politics again ahead of the 2024 election: Duke and Duchess of Sussex working with ‘Hollywood power players’ to combat the onslaught of AI ‘deepfakes’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are once again wading into U.S. politics, joining a campaign to warn American voters against misinformation in the upcoming presidential election.

Their Archewell Foundation and other Hollywood political players are supporting an initiative to prepare U.S. voters for a possible onslaught of AI deepfake information, Axios reported.

Specifically, the Archewell Foundation is helping brainstorm new content for the  campaign.

It is the second time around the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have gotten involved in a presidential election. In the 2020 contest, they urged Americans to sign up to vote and reject misinformation.

In the aftermath, Republicans and other critics called on the Royal Family to strip the couple of their titles, calling the interference of the Duke and Duchess inappropriate. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are once again wading into U.S. politics – above the couple at the Invictus Games in Germany in September

This year’s campaign is being coordinated by Miles Taylor, chief policy officer of The Future US. Taylor was chief of staff for the Department of Homeland Security during Donald Trump‘s presidency and was the anonymous author of a New York Times op-ed revealing the dangers of the Trump presidency.

He’s now ringing alarm bells about the use of fake videos and images.

‘This is a disaster waiting to happen — no one’s doing the public inoculation,’ he told Axios.

With the advent of cheap generative AI and a plethora of social media platforms available, experts are warning manipulated images, edited videos, and misleading robocalls could dominate this year’s politics.

Compounding matters is a lack of regulation and coordination between the relevant federal agencies and social media companies. 

‘The government isn’t talking to social media companies. Many of the social media companies don’t want anything to do with the government — which means novel AI threats could get missed,’ Taylor noted. 

Google, Meta, and OpenAI have pledged to combat deceptive AI election content, while two advertisements have been produced by Jesse Dylan, Bob Dylan’s son, to raise awareness for the issue. The ads will run this spring in battleground states.

The involvement of the Sussexes will restoke questions about Meghan’s political ambitions. 

A representative for the Duke and Duchess did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. 

Both Joe Biden (left) and Donald Trump (right) have been victim of AI generated deep fakes

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke out about politics in the 2020 presidential election

But Meghan’s ambitions have been talked about since she and Harry emigrated from Britain during the ‘Megxit’ crisis, including claims that she would ‘seriously consider’ running for president if her husband dropped his royal title. 

The couple also hired top former aides to Barack Obama for their foundation, fueling the speculation about their political futures.

And, a few years ago, a friend of the Duchess told Vanity Fair magazine that one of the reasons Meghan did not give up her American citizenship when she married into the Royal Family was to allow her to keep open the option of entering politics. 

She has already gotten involved in policy issues. 

The Duchess was a vocal critic of the Supreme Court‘s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade and threatened to go to Washington D.C. to march in the protests. 

She also lobbied members of Congress to approve mandatory paid parental leave, writing to then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer, as well as cold-calling senators to ask them to support the measure.

She signed her letters to the lawmakers with her royal title: ‘Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.’ 

But, in 2020, the Sussexes were accused of ‘violating’ the terms of the ‘Megxit’ deal after repeatedly urging Americans to vote in the presidential elections. 

In a video they posted online a few months before voters went to the polls, Harry and Meghan delivered a message that was widely interpreted as an endorsement of Joe Biden. 

The Duke of Sussex urged people to ‘reject hate speech’ while the Duchess called it the ‘most important election of our lifetime,’ urging Americans to the polls. 

The comments caused a stir on both sides of the Atlantic although their spokespeople argued their message was not directed at any particular candidate but was the Sussex’s way of expressing their concern about the tone in politics. 

Then-President Trump wished Harry luck in response.

‘I’m not a fan of hers,’ Trump said of Meghan. ‘I would say this – and she has probably heard that – I wish a lot of luck to Harry because he’s going to need it.’  

Questions have arisen about the Duke and Duchess’ political plans – above Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the United Nations headquarters in New York in July 2022

Some Republicans and critics of the couple have called on the Royal Family to remove their titles because of their interference in American elections – above Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018 before they left the Royal Family

Royal insiders voiced concern in Britain where the royal family are expected to remain politically neutral at all times, with one saying that Harry and Meghan had ‘crossed a line’. 

Buckingham Palace also distanced itself from Harry’s remarks by saying that ‘the Duke is not a working member of the royal family’ and describing his comments as ‘made in a personal capacity’. 

Although British law does not explicitly forbid members of the royal family from voting, the expectation that royals remain apolitical is considered sacrosanct, and in practice they never participate in elections, by voting or otherwise. 

After the incident, Congressman Jason Smith of Missouri sent a letter British Ambassador to the United States, asking for Meghan and Harry to lose their titles.

‘As you know, the British Royal Family has long observed a policy of strict neutrality in regard to political matters. I am therefore concerned by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s recent comments regarding the United States Presidential Election, especially given international conversations surrounding foreign interference in our elections and the Duke’s status as a guest of the United States,’ he writes in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by DailyMail.com.

In 2020, Meghan Markle joined Gloria Steinem for a ‘backyard chat’ in which she indicated who she was supporting in the election

King Charles controls Harry and Meghan’s titles but acts on the advice of the government – meaning it would be up to him to act against the couple, but would likely only make such a move on the advice of the prime minister’s office.

Also in the runup to the 2020 election, feminist activist Gloria Steinem revealed that Markle had joined her in cold-calling Americans and urging them to vote.

Steinem told Access Hollywood: ‘She came home to vote. The first thing we did, and why she came to see me, was we sat at the dining room table where I am right now and we cold-called voters.’

‘Said ‘hello I’m Meg’ and ‘hello I’m Gloria’ and ‘are you going to vote?’ That was her initiative.’

Before marrying Prince Harry in 2018, Markle was no stranger to politics, ridiculing then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during a 2016 appearance on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.

She said Trump was ‘misogynistic and divisive’ and indicated her support for Hillary Clinton. 

Harry is a friend of former president Barack Obama, interviewing him on a guest-edited episode of BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme in 2017.  

‘Part of my role and part of my job is to shine a spotlight on issues that need that spotlight, whether it’s people, whether it’s causes, issues, whatever it is,’ Harry said at the time.

‘So I will continue to play my part in society and do my job to the best of my abilities so that I can wake up in the morning and feel energized.’