SAN JOSE, Calif. — Prince Harry was not the first choice to headline a mid-April conference in Melbourne, Australia, about mental health in the workplace — and not because people may wonder about the extent of his regular workplace experience.

According to a new report, Harry was asked to replace Deepak Chopra, the original keynote speaker for the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit, after it became known in February that the name of the famed author and wellness guru had turned up thousands of times in the U.S. Justice Department’s Epstein files, according to CNN.

Harry’s involvement in this event appears to have been organized rather quickly, according to the report, and is sure to renew questions about how he and his wife, Meghan Markle, are taking on certain paid speaking events and photo ops to earn money to fund their lavish lifestyle in Montecito.

Chopra has described himself as a friend of Harry and Meghan and is known as a longtime collaborator of their Montecito neighbor Oprah Winfrey. The DOJ files show that Chopra engaged in extensive correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein between 2016 and 2019, CNN reported. According to the men’s emails, they regularly visited each other’s homes, bantered about spirituality, sex and women’s appearances, and Chopra encouraged Epstein to “bring your girls” on trips they took together, including to Israel, CNN also reported.

Chopra denied any wrongdoing when it comes to Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking of under-age girls and said he regretted that his emails to the late financier showed “poor judgement in tone,” USA Today reported.

The InterEdge summit, with Chopra as the headliner, was originally scheduled to take place in March, journalist Paula Froelich reported on her Inside Scoop Substack. It appears that the organizers had to find a new keynote speaker after Chopra’s association with Epstein became known, Froelich reported. Harry wasn’t the organizers’ first choice; he “was more of a hail Mary,” Froelich added.

Pushing the summit back to April proved to be convenient for Harry. That’s when he and Meghan, estranged from the British royal family, will undertake what’s been described as a “quasi-royal” trip to Australia, during which the couple will participate in “private, business and philanthropic” engagements.

“So, it seems, Chopra’s loss is Harry’s gain — and the original speaking fee Chopra would have pocketed is going to the Sussexes instead,” Froelich reported.

Harry is expected to speak at the April 15-16 summit, while Meghan does some headlining of her own at the “Her Best Life” women’s retreat in Sydney. This three-day retreat at a luxury hotel on Coogee Beach has become a topic of controversy because attendees have been asked to pay up to $3,199 each for the chance to attend a gala dinner and have photo ops with the American Duchess of Sussex.

This event — and Harry replacing Chopra at the InterEdge summit — has prompted questions about whether Meghan and Harry are so in need of money that they have resorted to hiring themselves out for paid meet-and-greet photo opportunities, according to the Daily Mail.

The Australia visit was announced around the same time that news broke in Variety that Netflix had divested from Meghan’s As Ever lifestyle venture because the company’s executives, including co-CEO Ted Sarandos, had become “fed up” with the couple, their business missteps and their alleged problematic “bedside manner.” Harry and Meghan’s Netflix five-year production deal was worth a reported $100 million, but the business relationship had been far from “a fairy tale,” Variety said.

Harry and Meghan’s relationship with Chopra goes back to at least 2020, when the couple left royal life and moved to California, looking to become wealthy and influential media moguls and global philanthropists, AOL reported.

Chopra participated in one of their early media ventures, a special holiday podcast in 2020 that they recorded with Spotify, which has since cut ties with them. Meghan described the Indian American New Age guru as a friend and as someone who “inspires” her, Froelich reported.

Chopra lent his name to another of Meghan project, participating in her 40×40 Compassion In Action initiative, which aimed to help women return to work after the pandemic, AOL reported. “To celebrate the 40th birthday of my friend Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, I’m donating 40 minutes of mentorship to a woman re-entering the workforce,” Chopra said at the time.

In 2023, Chopra gave an interview to the Daily Mail, telling the British tabloid that he had “periodically” spent time with Harry and Meghan after they moved to the United States and tried to help them navigate their “struggles” with the royal family, according to Froelich and AOL. He famously advised them to “ignore” the drama to avoid aggravating their situation.

Since Chopra’s name turned up in the Epstein files, Harry and Meghan have offered no comment, according to Froelich. The couple also have not issued any public statements on the Feb. 19 arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Harry’s uncle and another longtime Epstein associate.

The former Prince Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, related to allegations that he forwarded confidential U.K. government reports to Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy. Andrew also was accused of having sex with one of Epstein’s under-aged “sex slaves,” an allegation Andrew has long denied.

Following Andrew’s arrest, an anonymous source close to Harry lamented to People that the public continues to compare the two men, given that they are the “spare” younger brothers of heirs to the British throne.

“He was frustrated by the comparisons. It was never fair to lump them together,” an insider told People.

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