royal The Daily Beast is the newsletter for all things royals and the royal family. Participate here To get it in your inbox every Sunday.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have taken to blaming their faltering commercial success on bad luck, world events and unfortunate timing, including the onset of the coronavirus pandemic just weeks after they left the royal family.
The couple announced that they would leave the royal family and want to be free to earn their own money, in January 2020, just as the first reports of a mysterious respiratory disease were emerging from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The couple began their post-royal life living in Canada but were forced to take a dramatic trip with their dogs on a private jet to Los Angeles in March as they feared the US was about to close its borders as the pandemic accelerated.
There was a lot of speculation at the time that the couple hoped they’d be able to immediately capitalize on their fame with a string of mega deals while they were still hot property, but the turmoil of pandemic-era business forced them to wait over a year before that. Signing agreements with Netflix and Spotify in the end.
Since then, the Spotify deal has been launched though, and the streaming giant has responded encouragingly to Harry’s proposal to make a new solo film about Africa.
A Netflix insider confirmed to Page six That Harry’s Africa show was one of the father-of-two’s most warmly received proposals, saying, “Harry clearly has a lot of roots in Africa and feels at home there.” The source said that he is one of the number of ideas which the King has been discussing, including a possible interview with Donald Trump and the Pope about childhood trauma.
It is likely that the Africa exhibit will have an environmental theme given that Harry is the chair of the African Gardens Conservation Group.
A source at Netflix said that despite claims that relations with Netflix are strained, the Sussex deal is unlikely to ever be renewed. Page six“Things are great,” while a spokesperson for the broadcasting giant said, “We value our partnership with Archewell Productions.”
The spokesperson added that they “will continue to work together on a number of projects,” including Heart Invictus, which follows the Paralympics for Wounded Veterans that Harry founded.
According to a report in daily MailThe couple also feel they were unfortunate that their interview with Oprah Winfrey was followed so soon by the death of Prince Philip, and that Meghan’s ironic podcast, Archetypes, was overshadowed by the Queen’s death.
A source in Los Angeles told L.A mail: “The word is that they think they’re really out of luck.”
Archewell didn’t respond to a request for comment, but if the couple wanted evidence of more bad luck haunting them, the Hollywood writers’ strike would, of course, affect their ability to develop any further show ideas.
. “Professional creator. Lifelong thinker. Reader. Beer buff. Troublemaker. Evil problem solver.”