Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to be “thrilled” to be able to “put rumours to bed” over their Netflix contract, sources have claimed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have struck a new “multi-year first look” deal with the streaming giant, five years after their lucrative, exclusive one, reportedly worth around £74million, ended.
The first-look deal, which means Netflix will have the first option on Harry and Meghan’s projects, was described by the Sussexes as “extending their creative partnership”. The latest announcement followed various reports claiming that Netflix would end up axing its partnership with the Montecito couple, following a series of flops.
The Sussexes’ most successful series has been Harry & Meghan – their controversial tell-all 2022 documentary about stepping back from royal duties and their struggles with the royal family.
It totalled 23.4 million views and is Netflix’s fifth most popular documentary series of all time.
The rest of them, Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus, Polo and With Love Meghan, failed to attract similar views.
But according to a source close to the couple, Harry and Meghan had to suffer through a “frustrating” silence after what was described as “wild and inaccurate speculation” in recent weeks.
The source told GB News: “The couple are pretty thrilled with the deal. It’s been a long time in the planning.”
“They’re over the moon. It’s great to be able to continue making great programmes with Netflix.”
They added: “It’s been frustrating, we haven’t been able to say too much and put [the rumours] to bed during contract negotiations.
“Some of the reporting shows you how much wild and inaccurate speculation there is around the Duke and Duchess.”
The source said that the Sussexes are “still box office” and argued that Netflix “would not have renewed the deal” if they thought Harry and Meghan “wouldn’t sell”.
