Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been warned not to spread themselves too thinly as two new Netflix shows have been announced, set to be produced by Archewell.
One of these programmes will be released in conjunction with Meghan’s new brand American Riviera Orchard and is set to focus on lifestyle topics such as gardening and cooking.
The other will take a look behind the scenes at the world of competitive polo, a sport Harry and the rest of the Royal Family are particularly keen on.
These new developments come just months after it was reported that the Sussexes would be producing a film adaptation of Carley Fortune’s romance novel Meet Me at the Lake.
Harry and Meghan’s deal with Netflix is due to expire next year, with a royal expert suggesting they may be “desperate” to squeeze as much money out of the contract as possible.
Phil Dampier told MailOnline: “I’m all in favour of them doing things that aren’t making money out of slagging off the Royal Family or criticising the Royal Family.
“So that’s a good sign. That’s a step in the right direction but they seem to be a bit confused at the moment, trying to maybe do too many things and I’m not sure that there’s any guarantee that any of them will work.
“They might be better to focus on one thing and try and get it off the ground. I think they’re desperate for money and they don’t want to lose their Netflix contracts because that has been a money spinner for them.”
He added: “If they lost that completely, then they’ve got all their bills to pay in terms of security, and a luxurious house and first class travel everywhere so they need to pay the bills, they need to get some money, and they’ve probably exhausted the money they can make out of criticising the Royal Family.”
News of the Meet Me at the Lake adaptation initially broke last summer, with a source saying it was “right up their [Meghan and Harry’s] alley” as they “love love stories and rom-coms.”
The story closely mirrors the couple’s own love story, as it is set in Toronto, where Meghan used to live, and includes a character whose parent dies in a car accident.
Meghan’s new TV show for 2024 will see her “celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship” and will be produced by Sony Pictures Television’s The Intellectual Property Corporation.
But it remains to be seen whether these new projects will ultimately boost their popularity in the US, as Mr Dampier added: “Certainly their popularity in America has now gone down because they’ve overdone [criticising the Royal Family] and so they’ve got to find fresh avenues.
“At the moment they’re trying several different things but how many of them will be successful is debatable.”
