'Harry and Meghan's much-needed relaunch after a disastrous few months, but is it enough to salvage their image?'

OPINION -- It's been a busy couple of days for Prince Harry and Meghan following what has been a lacklustre year.

January started with a bang for the Duke of Sussex with the huge success of his memoir Spare but since then, he's been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

From accusations of snubbing his father King Charles by being in London for just over 24 hours for the coronation, to an emotionally-charged court appearance over phone hacking claims, much of the narrative coming from Prince Harry has been negative.

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As for his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, she's kept an unusually low profile for much of the year, leading to questions about whether she actually does support her husband's public grievances about the monarchy and his time in it.

That is, until now.

Prince Harry and Meghan have finally come out of the shadows to relaunch themselves onto the world stage after months of PR blunders.

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The fresh start, in the week of Meghan's 42nd birthday, is desperately needed but it begs the question, what is next for the Sussexes and do they still have the impact they once did?

They've announced a number of calendar events, largely centred around charity.

The new focus seems to indicate their hopes of breaking into the celebrity world has failed and instead they are moving back into the trusted sphere of charitable events.

In what was their first joint appearance since May, Prince Harry and Meghan surprised all by taking part in a video where they called young entrepreneurs helping to make the online world a safer place.

In a short video, which looked a lot like a commercial, Harry and Meghan thanked the recipients of the first-ever Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund grants.

Harry and Meghan's charity, the Archewell Foundation, is a "proud founding member" of the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund initiative and is part of the advisory committee.

The clip also attempted to silence those pesky split rumours which have been plaguing the Sussexes for months, their savvy move showing naysayers that all is well with their marriage without having to directly comment on the claims.

Prior to the clip, shared on August 2, the last time we saw the couple together was at an award's night on May 18 where Meghan had accepted a Women of Vision gong celebrating feminist champions.

But that was soon overshadowed by what Harry and Meghan's team called a "near catastrophic car chase" involving paparazzi photographers on their way home.

Harry and Meghan were swiftly accused of exaggerating the car ride with the incident appearing to back the duke's previous concerns about "history repeating itself" after his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car accident while being chased by photographers in Paris in 1997.

Wisely laying low since that night the couple hadn't done much since, bar Harry's appearance in London's High Court in June – until this week.

On Wednesday, it was announced Prince Harry would travel to Singapore to play in a charity polo match for Sentebale later this month.

Before heading to Singapore Harry and close friend, Sentebale ambassador and Argentine player Ignacio 'Nacho' Figueras will be in Japan to take part in a summit on the power of sport, community and philanthropy.

And in September, both Prince Harry and Meghan will return to Germany for the 2023 Invictus Games, in Düsseldorf.

But it seems King Charles and co. are not keen on welcoming the Sussexes back into the fold, with claims they have been excluded from a small royal family gathering at Balmoral to mark one year since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

READ MORE: 'Harry and Meghan's orchestrated move to silence split rumours'

Since Harry and Meghan's departure from the UK to the US, they've had their sights set on the celebrity sphere after signing multi-million deals with Netflix and Spotify.

In June, Spotify ended their contract after a lack of content but the partnership with Netflix remains – for now.

There's been much speculation about the couple's next moves amid indications that Americans are quickly falling out of love with Harry and Meghan following their constant complaints about the royal family and their apparent lacklustre work ethic.

Their image took a big blow when South Park parodied their attempts at a normal life through its episode titled 'The Worldwide Privacy Tour'.

Meghan was said to have been particularly humiliated by the cartoon they considered suing.

Their apparent fall from grace is even rumoured to have extended to the couple's A-List friends who are said to be giving them the cold shoulder.

And then there are rumours Meghan is planning to return to social media with the launch of a lifestyle platform to rival Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop empire.

If Hollywood is turning its back on the Sussexes, their renewed focus on charity appears to be the only avenue left for them.

For a couple who've shunned the royal family and all it represents (except titles for their children), perhaps Harry and Meghan have realised they need to return to the tried and true formula employed by generations of royals before them: give back to those in need.

By choosing duty over self interest, only then, perhaps, will Harry and Meghan be able to get back on track.