Meghan Markle recently made a well-publicized pap walk in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, California, going in and out of a shop with bags, a body guard and a well-placed paparazzi there to capture the whole thing. It was another example of how Meghan Markle is becoming increasingly desperate for attention and relevance as the Sussex brand continues to crumble.

In the early 2000s, paparazzi were known to hang out at popular Los Angeles locations where they would be highly likely to capture a celebrity walking in or out. While that’s still somewhat true, the name of the game has changed. Now, pretty much every pap walk out there is staged by a PR team and not the result of stalking a particular celebrity.

That’s the reason why Meghan Markle’s sudden paparazzi pictures outside a Montecito shop are very clearly a staged. Murky Meg, a YouTuber who creates videos criticizing Meghan Markle, has concluded after some research that the photographer was likely paid and arranged for entirely by the former actress as he has no literally no paparazzi experience.

There’s no doubt about that, she’s been doing that pretty much for her entire relationship with Prince Harry.

From Toronto to London and now Montecito, Meghan has always been doing the c-list celebrity game of trying to gain attention through a random, though planned and staged, photography events. It’s a way to get her name in the news yet again, but that Meghan is once again resorting to this effort is a sign that not all is well on the Sussex front.

In fact, their goal of global domination appears to be falling apart around them.

The media, though they still cover the couple incessantly, are clearly putting more stock in the working members of the British royal family than the pseudo/exiled royals.

People Magazine is running a cover with Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, entitled “Kate at 40! How Her Life is Changing.”

A source told the magazine, “Kate is ‘more and more impressive as time goes on. She is a focused and professional woman.”

Meghan Markle didn’t get the same level of treatment for her 40^th birthday, despite a well-publicized video celebrating her milestone and announcing a new initiative.

People also got some great and exclusive coverage of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony.

Meghan and Prince Harry did a relatively flashy tour of New York City, which garnered plenty of publicity but failed to inspire notable magazine covers or a larger reaction beyond general disbelief that the couple were acting like diplomats and the self-established King and Queen of the United States.

Royal commentator Daniela Elser pointed this out writing for news.com.au. She said, “Like pretty much every assumption that the world held during those first few febrile months of 2020, nothing has quite panned out the way that anyone thought, including the Sussexes’ post-palace careers.

“As we are poised to begin 2022, Harry and especially Meghan are increasingly polarizing figures who have failed to build the sort of broad support base that many, including myself expected them to.”

By every indication, Meghan and Harry appeared poised to take the world as storm post-Megxit, but that hasn’t happened. Instead of growing support, it’s dwindling. They had a bit of a pump when they did the Oprah Winfrey interview, but as several of their allegations have been overwhelmingly debunked. As a result, they lost most of the little goodwill they gained from the stunt.

Now it seems like everything they do is a misstep and their branding is all over the place.

They have these multimillion-dollar deals, but the only thing the public has seen is one 35-minute Spotify podcast episode. They are likely filming a reality television show for Netflix, but this could damage their prospects even more.

Though Prince Harry was at one time the most popular royal in the British monarchy, his likability has completely tanked. Meghan Markle’s likability has never been very high, according to the polls, and now she fights with Prince Andrew for last place. If they want to be successful, the couple have to tread carefully, but staged paparazzi shots are not they way to do it. They only remind the public that they have nothing to offer, beyond the general hustle.