These are difficult times for streaming platforms. With Netflix, Disney and co locked in a crowded race for our eyeballs, some creative thinking is required to stay ahead of the competition. But is it creative thinking, or simply a terrible case of amnesia, that has led Netflix to ink a new film and television deal with Archewell Productions, the company founded by Montecito’s prime content-shovellers, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex?
Contrary to reports that Harry and Meghan’s previous $100m (£74m) contract with the streaming giant would not be renewed, this new agreement is a multi-year, first-look deal that gives Netflix first dibs on any new projects from the couple. To which the only reasonable response is: did they not watch last year’s With Love, Meghan, a lifestyle show so vapid and twee, the casual viewer might have mistaken it for a satire on influencer culture?
Whether this new deal is a coup for the Sussexes is a matter of interpretation. That Netflix will be at liberty to reject their royal offerings certainly constitutes a downgrade on their previous agreement. And though the money involved hasn’t been disclosed, it’s likely a reduction on last time, to reflect the trickier market. Nonetheless, Netflix is apparently keen to keep the pair on its books. In a statement this week, the Duchess said she and her husband were looking forward to creating “thoughtful content across genres that resonates globally and celebrates our shared vision”. Or shared delusion, perhaps.
It’s true that Harry & Meghan, the couple’s 2022 documentary series recounting their move away from the UK and the duchess’s shoddy treatment by both her in-laws and the British press, had its compelling moments, drawing a more-than-respectable 23.4 million views. But since then, it’s been diminishing returns on the Archewell production line, which has churned out one flop after another.
You probably won’t recall Polo, the docuseries about the prince’s favourite sport that was built around the US Open Polo Championships, since it failed to make the Netflix Top 10 and was watched by just half a million viewers worldwide. Why? Because polo is a spectator sport for privileged metropolitan poshos and the landed gentry; no one else cares. Further series Live to Lead, comprising drearily worthy profiles of political figures, and Heart of Invictus, about a group of competitors training for the Invictus Games, similarly tanked, failing to dent the charts or the public consciousness.
Then came this year’s Love, Meghan, the crushingly insipid eight-parter that finalised the duchess’s transformation from embattled royal escapee to Goop-esque lifestyle guru. Viewers watched as she made bath salts and candles, arranged fruit and crudités into patterns on platters, and decanted pretzels from one plastic bag into another, all “to create wonder in every moment”. The series, which also saw her celebrity pals pop by to tell her what a wonderful host she is, is just one arm of her lifestyle brand, which also includes a business selling jam, pancake mix and “flower sprinkles”.
With Love, Meghan at least outdid Polo in terms of ratings, reaching 2.6m views in the first week, allowing it to fleetingly graze the Top 10. But it was still a poor showing when you consider Netflix’s gargantuan investment.
Credit where it’s due, though: the Duchess of Sussex has found her niche, even if it is part-tradwife, part here’s-one-I-made-earlier Blue Peter crafter. Meanwhile, Harry, a man accustomed to having doors and chequebooks opened for him everywhere he goes, seems to have no vision, direction or obvious talent. If the ideas he is reported to have pitched to Spotify are to be believed, he also seems alarmingly untethered from reality.
The pair signed a $20m podcasting deal with the platform in 2020, though were let go in a round of cost-cutting measures three years later; among the shows alleged to have been floated by the prince was an interview series in which he would talk to controversial guests about their formative years and how they influenced world events. Those guests would include Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg and – the pièce de résistance – Vladimir Putin. (Spotify and Archewell Audio declined to comment on the reports at the time.)
So what are Netflix thinking in signing the Sussexes a second time? The most likely explanation is to keep them on side and away from rival networks. For all their professional failures, the couple remain a source of fascination to the public on both sides of the pond, who can’t get enough of the rolling royal soap opera. Should the pair have another bust-up with the fam, or even with each other, the streamer will be perfectly placed to make another blockbuster exposé.
In the meantime, season two of With Love, Meghan is coming at the end of this month. Also in the works is a Christmas special in which the Montecito momfluencer will no doubt teach us how to paint a pinecone and hang a paper chain. Whether three thousand or three million viewers tune in, it matters not. As far as Netflix is concerned, the Harry and Meghan show must go on.
