Archewell payment to Michelle Obama's former press secretary …

A payment on the tax filing submitted by Prince Harry and Megan's charity Archewell has renewed speculation the Duchess of Sussex plans to run for office. More than £160,000 AUD (GBP90,000) was paid to a public relations company run by top US political spin doctor Katie McCormick Lelyveld. Lelyveld served as former First Lady Michelle Obama's press secretary from 2007 to 2011.

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The payment was detailed in Archewell's tax filing for 2021, released days ago. According to the tax returns, Prince Harry and Meghan's charitable endeavour paid GBP89,000 to Lelyveld's company, KML Strategic Advisors, in 2021. The money was for "strategic support for social impact PR".

Lelyveld has also worked on PR campaigns for former presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. Her company says it has "decades of dynamic experience with influential leaders" and said it was the firm that "global leaders turn to to navigate challenges with reputational, political, philanthropic, legal and financial lenses".

The payment has added fuel to rumours Meghan has hopes of one day running for president. In 2021, it was revealed the duchess had cold-called US senators on their personal phones to press them over a law for paid family leave.

READ MORE: Harry, Meghan risk 'fatal, irreversible blow' with coronation decision Senator Shelley Capito, a Republican, said at the time that she could not "figure out how she got my number". It was also revealed that a year earlier, Meghan and Harry had held a private meeting with California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Thought, at the time, Newsom said it was just a welcome meeting as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to California.

Also in 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan made a high-profile visit to New York including the United Nations to call for greater vaccine equity. But according to The Sun, a source said the Archewell payment was not linked to Lelyveld's professional political work but she was hired as an "experienced strategic adviser" to Harry and Meghan. IN PICTURES: Why Camilla has only ever worn four tiaras

In 2021, journalist Tom Bower - who also wrote a book on Meghan titled Revenge - said the duchess could run for the United States presidency within the next decade. "Just as she seduced the royal family, will she tempt California's power brokers to promote her own political ambitions to the Senate and possibly beyond, via her friendship with America's vice president Kamala Harris and the Obamas?" he wrote in a piece for The Sun. "Although her political rhetoric is skeletal and her skin is thin to -criticism, surely that is the next step on her Crusade for -Goodness," Bower continued.

Omid Scobie, who co-wrote the biography Finding Freedom which had involvement from Meghan, previously said the former actress "has her eyes set on the US presidency".

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