Following weeks of speculation that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s lucrative five-year deal had officially ended, it was announced on Monday that the royal couple have renewed their agreement with Netflix. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were said to be “over the moon” about the news, and Meghan released a statement to share that she and Harry are “proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together”. However, insiders have exclusively revealed to Express.co.uk, that their deal with the streaming giant was extended because of the amount of cash Netflix have invested into the couple, who have already “pocketed the money”.
In 2020, the Sussexes reportedly signed a $100m (£75m) deal with Netflix after stepping down from their working royal roles. That deal led to the creation of several projects, including their highly successful documentary Harry & Meghan, a polo show, and, most recently, Meghan’s cooking series With Love, Meghan.
A source close to Netflix told Express: “Harry and Meghan were paid a lot of money for their first contract with Netflix. We’re talking mega millions of dollars, and the only thing they produced that was a big success was their documentary where they slammed the Royal Family.
Netflix basically had to give them a new contract because their old one had run its course but the streaming service still needed content from them because they’d already committed so much cash to them.”
The source added: “The reason Harry and Meghan got a new deal is down to the fact that they have already pocketed the money so they have to continue working until they’ve completed their obligations and produced more content.”
Meanwhile, the second series of the cookery show, With Love, Meghan, is being screened later this month.
Audience figures from Netflix showed the first series was not even in the streaming service’s top 300 most popular shows in the first half of 2025.
With Love, Meghan, a lifestyle series which showed Meghan cooking with celebrity friends, had 5.3 million views.
Archewell has also announced a special Christmas season edition of With Love, Meghan, which invites viewers to “join Meghan in Montecito for a magical holiday celebration”.
There will also be a show on Netflix later this year, with Harry and Meghan as producers, called Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within, about an orphanage in Uganda being a beacon of hope in a situation “where the shadows of the HIV/Aids crisis linger”.
Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said: “Harry and Meghan are influential voices whose stories resonate with audiences everywhere.
“The response to their work speaks for itself – Harry & Meghan gave viewers an intimate look into their lives and quickly became one of our most-watched documentary series.”