The Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s charity, the Archewell Foundation, will be renamed Archewell Philanthropies as it marks five years since being founded after Megxit.
Harry and Meghan set up the Archewell Foundation, which follows the mission statement ‘Show up, do good’, after stepping down from their royal duties and moving to Los Angeles in 2020.
This year, the charity has advocated for safer digital spaces and the responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI).
It has also funded support for children affected by conflict in Gaza and Ukraine.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s charity, the Archewell Foundation, will be renamed Archewell Philanthropies as it marks five years since being founded after Megxit
The Archewell Foundation takes its name from ‘arche’, the ancient Greek work meaning ‘source of action’, and ‘well’, symbolising ‘a plentiful source or supply, a place we go to dig deep’.
A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said: ‘This next chapter allows Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to broaden their global philanthropic efforts as a family, with meaningful reach and maximum impact, grounded in the same values, partnerships, and their commitment to show up and do good.’
Royal commentator Phil Dampier said of the name change: ‘Archewell Philanthropies? Sounds like a chemists. They have truly gone bonkers. Sorry, even more bonkers’.
Founded in 2020, the Archewell Foundation is the hub of the Sussexes’ philanthropic focus.
Last year, it gave a total of £1,026,240 to charitable causes, and received £4,183,892 in grants – largely from one cash injection of £3,947,148, understood to have come from Fidelity Charitable, a US-based fund that also donated £789,415 the previous year.
The remaining income came from five anonymous individuals.
In February 2025 the Mail revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have donated more than half a million dollars to Democrat-linked gurus, funds and charities.
Their Archewell Foundation handed £502,300 ($632,000) to individuals and groups that would likely frustrate Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticised the couple and recently called Meghan ‘terrible’.
The largest single payment, $250,000 (£199,000), went to a charity run by Joe Biden‘s daughter Ashley, Archewell’s tax documents in the US showed.
And multiple six-figure sums were handed to one of the Democratic party‘s go-to PRs who claims to be an expert in online ‘integrity’ and countering ‘disinformation’.
While their charitable work echoes their previous royal roles, critics have accused the couple of trading off the family brand for commercial ventures.
In August, the couple’s media company, Archewell Productions, announced it had agreed ‘a multi-year, first-look deal’ for its TV and film projects with Netflix.
The couple have already produced a number of projects for the streaming service including a documentary about their relationship and problems with the royal family, while recently it has broadcast Meghan’s lifestyle show ‘With Love, Meghan’
The charity’s name change was revealed hours after it emerged that Harry and Meghan have quietly auctioned access to themselves to the highest bidder as a way of raising money.
It’s said tickets to attend a dinner with the Sussexes go for around $100,000 (£75,000) a plate, as they use the company CharityBuzz to raise funds for their charity Archewell.
Up to now the charity has relied on anonymous wealthy donors, which has allowed them to make grants to their selected good causes.
Last night, a spokesman for Archewell confirmed: ‘We have partnered with numerous fundraising partners over the years and CharityBuzz has been one of them.’
A source explained that Archewell had used the company to support a fundraising dinner on World Mental Health Day.
CharityBuzz has raised $650 million (£485million) for charity since opening 20 years ago and has run charity events with George Clooney, Beyonce and Sir Paul McCartney.
Harry and Meghan founded Archewell in 2020 and last year the foundation have away more than £1million to charity
Paying to have dinner with – or access to – a working member of the Royal Family is seen as a no-no and one of Fergie’s many solecisms was to offer access to the then prince Andrew for cash.
However, the Sussexes haven’t been working royals since Megxit.
The access to Harry and Meghan appears not to have been advertised on the company website, so may have been offered privately to ‘high rollers’ who have previously paid to rub shoulders with celebrities.
A source said of their association with CharityBuzz: ‘People will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to have dinner with them.’
Current offers include having dinner with Better Call Saul actor Bob Odenkirk for $10,000 (£7,500) and platinum tickets to attend the Grammy awards for $50,000 (£37,000).
Meanwhile, sources reveal change is afoot at the Archewell Foundation, with talk of staff ‘restructuring’.
The spokesman commented: ‘Yes, we are making some Archewell changes, and we’ll be sharing exciting developments regarding how we will deliver our philanthropic work moving forward, when we choose to. We look forward to communicating more in due course.’
