Three words confirm Harry and Meghan are spiralling out of control
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been dealt another blow that could spell the end of their biggest plan.
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In The Importance of Being Earnest, the inimitable Lady Bracknell quips, “To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
What then, pray tell, would Lady Bracknell make of the goings on at Prince Harry and Meghan the Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell these days? The couple has now lost not one or two but five senior executives from their non-profit in just over a year.
Could the Archewell office biscuit selection really be that bad? (Actually, just imagine the gluten-free, chia-seed abominations lurking in that kitchen …)
This week it was revealed that production manager Bennett Levine has parted ways with the Sussexes’ production arm, with his departure following on from Oscar-nominated producer Ben Browning, who was the Sussexes’ head of content; Fara Taylor, who ran Archewell’s marketing team; head of audio Rebecca Sananes (who was behind Meghan’s Archetypes podcast) and Mandana Dayani, who had been president of Archewell.
Such staff turnover and flux is hardly good news but here comes the worse part courtesy of one crucial detail. The Times reported that Browning and Taylor both left the Sussexes’ employ 12 months ago with “neither being replaced”.
Those three words: neither being replaced. Uh oh …
The state of the Sussexes’ content generating nation is looking increasingly like one of those weeny Central American nations permanently on the brink of coming apart at the seams.
Let’s take stock huh?
The biggie is, of course, their $USD100 million Netflix deal, with more speculation about the future of this than about most major presidential elections.
For the first time in years, this week, Netflix teased new Sussex projects with Chief Content Officer Bela Bajari revealing that they are beavering away on two documentaries, a movie and a scripted series.
Two things.
Firstly, Bajari said these series are all in the “very early development” stage. There is a hell of a long distance to cover between this point and their shows actually making it to the small screen - and which they will have to cover with the pressure of a ticking clock hanging over them. Reports suggest that the duke and duchess’ contract is set to end next year, thus putting them in something of a race against time.
The Sussexes might have shows in “very early development” but that is no guarantee that will mean that Netflix will extend their contract. The couple now has a finite window to demonstrate to the streaming giant that they are a good investment going forward.
Secondly, even if they get the shows made, Harry and Meghan also have to prove that they can create surefire hits. So far the couple’s three TV series have been greeted with decidedly mixed reviews and mixed viewing interest.
The question is, will whatever output they can achieve between now and 2025 be enough to keep the streamer on the hook?
Prior to Bajari’s revelation, the Sun reported that the duke and duchess’ contract is “unlikely to be renewed”.
The appearance of the Sussexes on the red carpet in Jamaica last week for the premiere of Bob Marley: One Love alongside Paramount supremo Brian Robbins and his wife Tracy Robbins only adds credence to this. (Paramount also reportedly footed the bill for the couple’s trip.)
To see Netflix’s highest of high-profile hires stepping out and gladhanding a direct competitor was a bit like some 40-something bloke getting back onto Tinder now that he’s sleeping in the spare bedroom.
Paramount, for their part, is yet to quite swipe right on Harry and Meghan, with The Sun reporting that the entertainment company “has yet to agree any formal collaboration with the Sussexes, [though] a deal could be in the pipeline.”
That “could” is really doing a hell of a lot of work there.
Many things “could” happen, however currently all signs are pointing to the duke and duchess facing something of a crunch in their US careers.
In November, Meghan walked the red carpet at Variety’s Power of Women event and said “we have so many exciting things on the slate. I can’t wait until we can announce them but I’m just really proud of what we’re creating. My husband is loving it, too. It’s really fun.”
Right now they are keeping all the “fun” to themselves and quite what “fun” might actually mean in real terms, beyond Bajaris’ bread crumbs, remains a more closely guarded secret than Queen Camilla’s signature Queen-groni recipe. (I’d guess one part Campari, one part red vermouth and five parts sloe gin, all garnished with a lit Marlboro.)
But let’s plough on here with the la situation Sussex and Spotify, their contract crash landing last year, given that in 30 months only the duchess managed to get only one podcast series across the line. Since then, the couple has yet to sign with any other audio company or podcasting platform.
Next, it’s book time. While Harry’s memoir Spare enjoyed record-breaking sales and taught the world about the joys of alfresco pub field shagging, publisher Penguin Random House has yet to announce any further books from the duke. (Meghan, for her part, has yet to release any sort of follow up to her 2021 children’s book, The Bench, such as The Deckchair, The Patio Lounger, or The Hammock.)
Add all of this together and if Netflix does not re-up their contract, this could leave the couple all but essentially unemployed and sans any real money-making irons in the fire.
This week The Sun reported that “there is fear behind Palace walls that the couple could become ‘royals for hire’ as they struggle to fund their expensive lifestyle amid floundering media deals.”
More broadly, many of the promising green shoots for Harry and Meghan of 2023 are looking decidedly wilted. In April last year it was revealed that the duchess had signed with mega agent Ari Emmanuel of WME. Not a single deal or project has eventuated from that so far.
So too the flurry of reporting last year that the duchess was on the cusp of going the full Zuckerberg and having a crack at some sort of online entrepreneurial thingame. Again, this also has failed to materialise to date.
Meanwhile, the couple’s charitable work has taken a serious pummelling this week.
Since 2016, Harry has been involved with the conservation group African Parks, first as president and then joining the board of directors in October last year. This week the Daily Mail alleged that African Parks’ rangers working in the Congo basin had raped, beaten and tortured the local indigenous Baka people to prevent them entering the forests where they have traditionally gathered food.
The claims are beyond horrific.
What is shocking is that the duke joined the African Parks board after human rights organisation Survival International contacted him in May last year about the alleged abuse, even sending him a video message from a Baka man named Eyaya, in which he said: “Now there is only torture in the forest.”
A spokesman for Archewell told the Mail: “When the Duke became aware of these serious allegations, he immediately escalated them to the CEO and chairman of the board.”
Meanwhile, the last time that Meghan was in the UK, the couple had travelled there for her to participate in the One Young World Summit, her fourth time at the event. Now the UK Charity Commission has issued an official warning to One Young World, for “governance failings and breaches of trust”.
Perhaps the question is, what is actually going right for Harry and Meghan right now? (Maybe their famous chickens are laying well?)
The fact that they have, per the Times, not replaced senior executives does not exactly point to them captaining a thriving concern full of exciting ideas and lucrative budding projects.
The bigger question then is, if TV, books and podcasts are not quite working for them, where do they turn next to earn a crust? I’m stumped and so it would seem is Ari Emanuel.
Harry and Meghan are two of the most famous people in the world except that their various projects excavating their royal lives have made them culturally and politically divisive figures – and divisive figures don’t tend to get plush L’Oreal deals or paid speaking gigs at Davos.
They have really painted themselves into something of a career corner and I have no idea how they might get out.
Maybe the answer lies with those Oprah-approved hens of theirs. Don’t laugh. After all, King Charles took the humble oatcake, sold originally through his Highgrove estate shop, and turned them into a business that makes more than $6 million-a-year. Those are some pretty impressive big bickies – and big bickies are exactly what Harry and Meghan might need.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
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