Controversial British broadcaster Piers Morgan has accused Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of "exploiting" Princess Diana's death to make "vast pots of money".
Over the weekend, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared at one their first events since their highly-publicised stepping down from the royal family. The JP Morgan-sponsored alternative investment summit held in Miami, Florida, was attended by a number of billionaires and put a focus on charitable organisations.
Prince Harry has refused to confirm or deny reports the pair were paid between US$500,000 and US$1 million for their appearance.
At the event, Prince Harry spoke about a number of aspects of his life, including the recent Megxit drama. He also opened up about being in therapy for the last few years and struggling to cope with the loss of his mother, Princess Diana.
"He talked about how the events of his childhood affected him and that he has been talking to a mental health professional," the New York Post reported at the time.
Diana, dubbed the People's Princess, died in 1997 in a car crash in a French tunnel. While investigations found the cause was the intoxication of the car's driver, paparazzi who were pursuing Diana were initially blamed. That has led to a testy relationship between Harry and the media.
In an opinion column for The Daily Mail, Morgan said Harry speaking about his mother wasn't new territory and he accused the royal renegade of exploiting her death.
"Harry’s not the only person to ever lose a parent when he was young. It’s sadly happened to many millions of people, including me - my father died when I was one," Morgan writes.
"And there’s a big difference between talking about it to raise public awareness of grief-related mental health issues - and doing it privately for a big fat fee to a bunch of super-rich bankers, business tycoons, politicians and celebrities.
"By commercially exploiting his mother’s death to make vast pots of money like this, Harry is surely behaving in exactly the same way he professes to despise from the media?"
The controversial broadcaster also said appearing at the event was hypocritical on the pair's part. He said they have frequently spouted about the need to be environmentally considerate, yet flew on a private jet to the Miami event from their mansion in Vancouver.
"Once in Miami, they stayed, again for free, at Serena Williams' palatial home in Palm Beach. Say what you like about Harry and Meghan, but they sure know how to blag a freebie."
He said Harry and Meghan's speaking tours and feeling of needing to present "royal revelations" will ultimately end in "humiliation and tears".
Although the Queen has agreed to allow Harry and Meghan to become financially independent of the royal family and end their extensive duties for the monarchy, they won't officially step down until autumn.
