Prince Harry has taken up skiing with a Kardashian beauty – as the Sussexes continue their push into LA’s elite following Meghan’s ‘calculated’ launch of her new lifestyle brand on Instagram.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, is believed to have been enjoying the glories of Aspen, America’s swankiest ski resort in Colorado, in the company of business executive Corey Gamble, 43.
Gamble is the man in the life of Kris Jenner, the 68-year-old mother of American TV royalty Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian; she also has two daughters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, with her second husband Bruce – now Caitlyn – Jenner.
A source said Harry had hit the slopes with Gamble, as well as Bumble dating app billionaire Whitney Wolfe, 34, and her husband Michael Herd, who she met on a previous ski trip.
There’s been no sign of Meghan on the slopes, though: She’s been too busy relaunching herself as an online guru with cooking and lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.
Meghan and Harry pictured at an Invictus Games event in Whistler, Canada last month. Harry has been skiing with Kris Jenner’s partner Corey Gamble – while Meghan has just launched her new lifestyle brand online
Corey Gamble with Chris Jenner. Gamble, 43, is a business executive – and has reportedly hit the slopes of Aspen, Colorado with the Duke of Sussex
Corey Gamble pictured here at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen in January, skiing with Kris Jenner and her daughters Kim, Kendall and Khloe Kardashian
Harry is a well-known skier – pictured here on the slopes of Verbier, Switzerland on New Year’s Eve 2011
Harry and William were also taken skiing by their father, the then Prince Charles, as young boys
The Duke was recently pictured in Whistler, Canada, trying out ‘sit skiing’ – a form of alpine sport for disabled athletes – during a preview of the Invictus Games
Harry appeared to be in a building that looked like a ski lodge as he delivered a video message to Diana Legacy Award recipients on Thursday
Harry’s other flings are believed to include dating app entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe (pictured), a co-founder of Tinder and later founder of female-friendly dating app Bumble
The Texan oil heir Herd owns the private jet on which Harry and Meghan flew to Las Vegas last November to see their Californian neighbor, pop superstar Katy Perry, perform in concert.
Wolfe became the youngest female billionaire in the world when she took Bumble public in 2021 with an initial public offering that valued the app at $7 billion; it is unique in that women send the first message to a male match.
The Duchess is also not believed to share the Duke’s love of alpine winter sports – but was pictured on a trip with friends at the Powder Mountain resort near Salt Lake City, Utah in late February.
The source said: ‘Harry has been skiing with Corey. They have been skiing during the day and went to one of the better-known speak-easies in the evening.’
Harry appeared to be in a ski lodge as he rang in for his virtual appearance at the Diana Legacy Awards on Thursday – controversially staged across London at a different location from where his brother Prince William presented the awards to recipients.
The Duke is no stranger to skiing as he was pictured on the slopes of Verbier in Switzerland in 2011 and was taken out with brother William by his father, then Prince Charles, as a boy.
In his controversial memoir Spare – nominated for two British Book Awards – he spoke of his love of skiing, despite his mother Princess Diana not being keen on the winter holiday.
This meant that every time he went skiing again – as he did with ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas – he felt guilty for doing something his mother hated.
He credits a ski trip with her for helping him open up emotionally — crying for the first time since his mother’s funeral while on vacation in Switzerland.
He wrote in the autobiography: ‘Skiing was so sacred to us, so symbolic, especially after our previous skiing holiday in Switzerland where she (Cressida) had miraculously opened me up.
‘It happened late one evening, after a long day on the slopes and a fun time après-ski. We had gone back to my cousin’s cabin where we were staying and Cress washed her face and brushed her teeth while I sat on the edge of the bath.
“We didn’t talk about anything in particular, as I recall, but suddenly she asked about my mother. I answered her straight and then started to cry.’
He went on to write that it was on another ski trip that he realized the relationship was over, noting lightly that their ski trips always led to an ‘epiphany’.
Harry was also pictured trying out ‘sit-skis’ in Whistler, Canada, as he previewed next year’s Invictus Winter Games.
The Duke laughed as an instructor took him on a downhill run in the special chair used by disabled athletes in competitive skiing.
Harry’s snowy escapades could, it has been suggested, lead to a Kardashian team-up with Meghan as she promotes her new brand.
American Riviera Orchard launched Thursday with a gorgeous Instagram video showing Meghan whipping up a stunning rustic kitchen and a woman arranging flowers, all set to I Wish You Love by jazz singer Nancy Wilson.
It is understood a trademark application has been lodged covering cutlery, cookbooks, coffee, jams and butter that could carry the trademark – as well as a brick-and-mortar store that could sell Meghan’s wares.
Meghan Markle pictured at the SXSW 2024 conference in Austin, Texas last week
She launched her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard on Instagram on Thursday in what experts say was a “calculated” move at a time of bad press for Prince William and Kate Middleton
Insiders have suggested the new brand will bear some resemblance to Meghan’s doomed lifestyle blog The Tig
The brand launched on Instagram on Thursday and has since accumulated more than 421,000 followers
The Instagram account for the lifestyle brand carries the biography ‘of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’
The Instagram account – with a biography reading ‘by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’ has already amassed around 421,000 followers since launching a day ago.
It has been suggested by insiders that it will coincide with a new cooking show on Netflix – part of the $100m deal the Sussexes struck with the streaming platform in 2020 – and will be followed by books and blogs.
PR experts have suggested she seized the opportunity presented by Kate Middleton’s Photoshop scandal on Mother’s Day to relaunch herself on social media.
Professional PR strategist Mark Borkowski said the timing of the launch – to “crash” the Diana Legacy Awards while also threatening the ongoing scandal involving the edited photograph of the Princess of Wales – was a “calculated” move by the Duchess.
He added: ‘Of course they were planning to launch it at this time. It was calculated. They know how to make noise on the internet. To launch something, you need to get a huge wave of interest.
‘So timing it with the Diana Legacy Awards, why not? It’s similar to what Kanye West is doing right now, causing chaos left, right and center.
‘I think the timing of the Photoshop incident is coincidental, it was about this week I suppose.
‘If they can succeed with this in the way they didn’t with Netflix and Spotify and get a range of products that the public likes, this could make a mark for them.’
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliam told MailOnline: ‘The Sussexes don’t do anything by accident, in my opinion, and timing is often absolutely crucial.
“For years they’ve been unpredictable, but they’ve been predictable in one way, and that’s the flawless timing when they think it’s beneficial to get information out. They don’t do anything by accident.”