It’s been nearly eight months since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle topped the Netflix charts with their documentary Harry & Meghan, and since then, there have been signs that things haven’t been going so smoothly for their foray into Hollywood productions. The most high-profile challenge has been the end of their deal with Spotify after only one season of Meghan’s podcast Archetypes.
But according to a royal insider who spoke to People, the couple are still finding their footing three years after leaving the UK because royal life “wasn’t a world they wanted for their family.” The formation of Archewell Productions and the deals with Netflix and Spotify came later. “There wasn’t necessarily a five-year plan,” the insider added. “Everything else flows from that, for whatever time period it takes.”
A source close to the couple told People that their Hollywood plans haven’t ended and “plenty of things that are in different phases” at Archewell Productions. “Very few other production companies are measured by what’s actually hit the airwaves,” the source added.
A Hollywood insider told the magazine that expectations for royal drama might have “inflated the price, deals, and expectations” for their studio. That was reflected in conversation about the pair’s future as early as January 2020, two weeks after announcing their exit, when Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said he would be interested in working with them. He added, “Who wouldn’t be interested?”
Contrary to podcaster and Spotify executive Bill Simmons’ comments that the couple are “grifters,” a person close to the Spotify deal told the magazine that “things moved slowly on both sides,” and that contributed to a lack of output. “They were given no formal lay of the land to kick things off,” the source added, “so they were already on unsteady footing even before the ink was dry.”
On Wednesday, Harry and Meghan made a rare appearance to help promote the Responsible Youth Technology Fund, an Archewell Foundation venture that awarded $2 million to youth-led initiatives focusing on internet safety. Ever since Harry released his memoir Spare earlier this year, the couple has scaled back on public engagements and put their attention on supporting charitable ventures. Their next planned events are a trip to Germany for the Dusseldorf Invictus Games in early September.
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