Oh at last! I've been wanting a discussion that speculates on earning potential for a while now.
Am I correct in thinking they are not going to see a penny from Finding Freedom? In which case they've taken a lot of flack for very little return. Far from sharing "their side of the story" they've actually made themselves less marketable IMHO. People want to pay them to get the inside goss on Royal life and they've spilled it. Or rather the authors of the book have. What else is there to tell?
Watching videos of their public speaking engagements. MM comes across as really natural and personable. Of course she can engage an audience, she's an actress. But the speeches are generally quite short and about things like female empowerment etc. etc. But PH is just NOT a great speaker. He fumbles around, reads from notes, looks and sounds uncomfortable. It's very cringe.
Now, if I was inclined to spend $500-$1,000 on a pair of tickets to a charity dinner and I wanted to be entertained, if I had the choice between 5 minutes of MM banging on about Girl Power and then PH preaching environmental carbon footprint save the world when I knew they just arrived by private jet and helicopter OR seeing the Obamas give an entertaining hour or so on subjects like building a successful career in law as a black woman (hard enough for a white woman, look at RBG), inside the White House or how they basically made it to the top by sheer application and hard work then I KNOW what I would be spending my money on.
I KNOW that Americans are very credulous when it comes to Royalty and will turn up to the opening of a envelope if a Royal is involved, but if I was promoter seeking to make money in hard times and I had the choice of the Obamas or some third rate ex Royals who have already hung their dirty washing out to dry then I know who I would choose.
Post Covid there's going to be a lot less money sloshing around and even well off celebrities will be watching their pennies as out of work folk like you and me won't have the cash to splash on movies/merchandising/ perfumes/designer clothing that keeps all these people afloat. Plus companies who traditionally hired these sort of people to speak at lavish dinners or events either won't be hosting those type of events, won't make money because of social distancing or will be wary of being seen to do so when they've just laid off 10,000 staff.
World economies have been built and now destroyed by the same discretionary spending which MM PH and many others were relying on to sustain their livelihoods.