Meghan Markle and Prince Harry face a major problem as they approach the end of their huge £80million contract with Netflix, a royal expert has claimed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed the mammoth contract back in 2020 after stepping away from their royal duties and moving to California, but it’s set to end in 2025.
The royal couple have so far released four projects, Harry & Meghan, Heart Of Invictus, Live to Lead and Polo, with a Meghan-led cooking show due to be released this year.
However, royal expert Emily Andrews has suggested that it’s not this type of content that’s commercially viable for the Sussexes. And she claims it is that that presents a serious “problem” for Harry in particular.
Emily wrote in Woman magazine: “Commercially speaking, what’s worked so far for Harry and Meghan is anything that closely involves their own lives (and some would say, spilling the tea). When they step back, their content tends to fail.
She continued: “This is a major problem – particularly for Harry, who has made it clear that he no longer wants to talk about his ‘old’ royal life (except when suing the press, of course).”
She suggested that Harry would prefer to focus on his charitable efforts, including his work with the upcoming winter Invictus Games, which come to Canada in February.
The couple’s latest Netflix offering, Polo, received a series of withering reviews this month, including one from an old polo-playing mate of Harry’s, who branded the show “tacky and cringey”.
They said: “It’s hilarious, but not in a good way. It’s so tacky and cringey, it is literally all the worst things about polo. I watched it in appalled hysterics.”
Renae Smith, the founder and director of PR firm The Atticism, previously told Express.co.uk that polo is a “niche topic” and doesn’t “align well” with their audience.
She added that the renewal of the Netflix deal “could be at risk”, as although news of the initial collaboration generated buzz, Renae believes the delivery “felt inconsistent”.
Despite this, the Sussexes’ docuseries, Harry & Meghan, landed a spot in the streaming giant’s top 10 and attracted millions of viewers after it dropped in 2022.
In addition, Meghan has experienced problems with her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, after the Duchess faced an issue with the trademark application.
It was previously reported that Meghan was told that she was unable to have rights to ‘American Riviera’ as it’s a name used to describe the California coast where the couple live.
