Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s exit from the Royal Family has proven harder than they anticipated, a royal expert has suggested.
The couple parted ways with the Firm in 2020 and have since planted an independent foothold in the US, where they have embarked on several projects.
While they have seen significant success since crossing the Atlantic – with their top-performing Netflix documentary and Prince Harry’s bestselling biography – the move hasn’t gone completely to plan.
Spotify parted ways with the Duchess in 2023 after producing her Archetypes podcast the year prior, with the show having lasted just one season.
An expert has said that, despite their success, the path to financial independence has proven “much harder” than they likely initially expected.
Speaking to TalkTV presenter Vanessa Feltz, Sarah Hewson, the channel’s royal editor, said the couple likely encountered difficulties finding their feet.
She said: “Things have not been easy for Harry and Meghan, and I think trying to find financial independence has been much harder than they might have anticipated.
“Meghan signed a new contract in the spring of last year with the talent agency WME. We haven’t yet seen anything come out of that.”
The Duchess of Sussex signed with the agency in April 2023 and told Variety she wanted to build projects based on her and her husband’s “love story”.
She told the publication she felt people were “connected” to their story and added she wanted to “evolve from that same space and do something fun.
She suggested creating a “rom-com”, but despite being signed with Netflix, the streaming platform has yet to announce any forthcoming projects.
The couple signed a lucrative £80 million ($100 million) deal with Netflix in 2020 that is soon up for renewal. They received the eye-watering after signing a five-year contract to produce programming for the platform.
Under the terms to which they reportedly agreed, the couple was due to produce documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and children’s programming.
But they have only produced one programme since then, the “Harry & Meghan” series exploring their relationship that debuted in 2022.
