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Questions have been raised about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ability to build a sustainable commercial empire as they developed a reputation of being “really difficult to work with”. Royal experts have even hailed Meghan’s bid to monetise her life as “exhausting”.
Since stepping back from their royal duties in 2020 and moving to California, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have tried to make a name for themselves outside of the royal family. While they struck up their Netflix deal surrounding their feud with the royals, Meghan has tried to create her own lifestyle brand in recent years.
However, with each major relationship the couple enter into, they typically seem to end on a negative note. Along with distancing themselves from the royal family, the couple have also been seen to fail in maintaining relationships with popular streaming services Netflix and Spotify.
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Questioning why this trend has continued over the last five or so years, royal reporter Bronte Coy has given her verdict, reports the Express. She said: “People are basically saying that they’re really difficult to work with.”
She added: “And that’s the theme there, and it’s from a number of sources now, a number of different outlets and that is the problem with them moving forward, trying to build an empire post-royal life.” This idea can be seen in reports surrounding the end of Netflix’s relationship with the couple.
The streaming giant first premiered the Sussexes’ bombshell docuseries, titled Harry and Meghan, back in 2022. Whilst this went on to be one of the highest documentary debuts for Netflix, none of the other shows from the couple did as well.
In recent reports it emerged that Netflix bosses lost patience with the couple. One insider claimed: “The mood in the building is ‘We’re done,'” while others told Variety that the relationship between the streaming company and Archewell Productions had soured beyond repair.
Throughout the deal between Harry, Meghan and Netflix, not one piece of fiction was developed, as all shows were a look into one aspect or another of the couple’s lives and ventures.
Meghan’s lifestyle shows, With Love, Meghan, launched last spring, with the mum of two speaking to her celebrity friends as she presented cooking and home craft segments. While the first series did decently well, the second installment and the Christmas special were seen to flop.
These continued non-fiction shows were reported to have worn down Netflix chief Ted Sarandos, who is said to demand that legal representation be present before agreeing to speak to Meghan directly from now on.
Netflix was also seen to be a huge factor in the 44-year-old’s As Ever lifestyle brand. With Netflix being a fully committed commercial backer of the brand which included jams, rose wine and flower sprinkles, the streamer’s infrastructure is said to have underpinned the entire operation from the start.
At the time, Meghan spoke enthusiastically about the partnership, saying: “Then Netflix came on, not just as my partner in the show, but as my partner in my business, which was huge.”
However, both sides have now reported that Netflix and As Ever have split amicably, with Meghan taking over the development teams itself. She is said to have welcomed the break as she believed Netflix’s risk-averse approach was hindering the brand’s potential.
Meanwhile, the curated image of the brand and its commercial reality was laid bare recently following a glitch on the Archewell website. According to Newsweek, it showed that more than $21.8million of product was sitting in warehouses as of January, despite the company previously claiming it has sold out.
Netflix isn’t the only streamer Meghan has parted ways from in recent years, as in 2023 she aired her Meghan Archetypes series on Spotify. However, after the show slowly faded following 12 episodes, both sides claimed the split was a mutual agreement.
This constant stream of factual content is said to be world’s away from what Harry and Meghan had aimed to do when they became television producers. Speaking to the Sun, she said: “They went to America with dreams of being TV producers and all they’ve really been able to do is try to monetise their lives through factual content.
“They’ve not been able to land those dramas and it does feel like the reason is because they actually didn’t have any of their own really fantastic ideas for fiction shows.
“What Meghan’s always leaned towards is monetising her life which I think is probably an exhausting thing to do because you need to be able to go home and live your life and for that to be separate.”
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