So the dream to transform Harry and Meghan into a content-making powerhouse appears to be over. According to People, Netflix has decided against renewing the deal which made the pair $100m (£75m) richer – but ultimately exposed them as creatively bankrupt.
One can’t blame the Sussexes for believing they’d take the streaming world by storm. After all, they’d previously proven to be ratings gold: only the Line of Duty finale attracted more UK viewers than their sit-down chat with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. And initially they did see success.
Produced by their own Archewell company, 2022’s Harry and Meghan broke Netflix’s first-week record for most-watched documentary – its revealing (if distinctly one-sided) insights into the machinations of the monarchy feeding the public’s insatiable appetite for all things Royal. The Prince’s memoir, Spare, became the fastest-selling non-fiction title ever, soon after, further confirming interest in the elite soap opera was at an all-time high.
‘Heart of Invictus’, 2023, followed six competitors in his Olympics-esque sports event for disabled and injured veterans (Photo: Aaron Chown)
Even during this boom, though, there were signs of things going south. The Meghan-led Pearl, an animation about a 12-year-old girl finding inspiration in historical figures, fell victim to studio cutbacks during the development stage. Then Live to Lead, an interview anthology with great leaders of the world, came under fire from one of its own subjects – then-New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, for essentially repurposing an old interview without her knowledge. That the Sussexes only popped up to introduce each episode didn’t exactly quell the grifter accusations which arose from their lucrative Spotify deal, either.
Harry did at least grace the cameras throughout 2023’s Heart of Invictus, which followed six competitors in his Olympics-esque sports event for disabled and injured veterans. Admittedly, his own recollections of Army life sometimes overshadowed the awe-inspiring athletes the doc was designed to celebrate. Still, it remains the Royals’ only Netflix offering beyond pure self-voyeurism.
Its dismal ratings (only 300,000 viewers), however, proved their high-profile names alone weren’t enough to guarantee success. And the pair’s subsequent offerings fundamentally misunderstood what audiences want from a Harry and Meghan vehicle – mainly tabloid-friendly dirt-dishing – while simultaneously misjudging the national mood.
Polo aimed to demystify a sport of the immensely wealthy just like Drive to Survive did for Formula One. But unfortunately, the 2024 series saddled itself with obnoxious characters, had barely any gameplay, and a narrative largely free of jeopardy. As Harry’s brother and “arch-nemesis” William was playing man-of-the-people with some surprisingly astute football analysis (of his beloved Aston Villa for TNT Sports), Harry’s elitist passion project seemed a spectacular own goal.
‘With Love, Meghan’ is about ‘the pursuit of joy’ but mostly involves Markle wearing creaseless white linen and inviting people to a rented house, furnished with tall wooden shelves filled with empty glass jars (Photo: Jenna Peffley/Netflix)
Netflix execs will undoubtedly have been dismayed at its distinct lack of Harry, too – he and Meghan only briefly appear in episode five’s charity match. Yet they had the opposite problem with With Love, Meghan: the final nail in the Sussexes’ streaming coffin.
As its sickly-sweet title suggested, the series put the Duchess front and centre in an aspirational lifestyle show entrenched in Instagram’s picture-perfect, trad-wife aesthetic. Sitting somewhere between the pretentious consumerism of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and mind-numbing banality of a Paul Burrell book, it felt mostly like a glorified advert for her As Ever homeware brand. And while Meghan obviously has a genuine affinity for such pursuits, she failed to reflect any sense of real joy.
“Perfection is not the goal,” came one of countless empty soundbites, contradicted by how she treated each task with military precision. Amid a cost of living crisis and a second Trump presidency, With Love, Meghan was rightfully pilloried by the press as utterly tone-deaf.
Gluttons for punishment still have another season of domestic frippery to look forward to – though, this was actually filmed long before the first season aired. Indeed, Netflix’s latest data dump ranked With Love, Meghan at a lowly 389 on its most-watched shows of 2025’s first half. Polo was an embarrassing 3436.
Reportedly, Netflix haven’t severed all ties with their one-time golden couple. According to Page Six, they could be in line to sign a first-look deal, like they have with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions – meaning the proposed adaptation of Carley Fortune’s romantic novel Meet Me at the Lake and an Africa-based documentary could still see the light of day. But it’s hard to see why the streamer, or any other, would commit now.
Barack and Michelle had an Oscar-winning documentary and an all-star apocalyptic drama attached to their names. Harry and Meghan have disposable shows about hockey on horses and harvest baskets. Unless they start spilling more family secrets again, a TV reprieve seems less likely than a reunion with Charles and Will.
Netflix have been approached for comment