I’m a royal expert – Meghan Markle & Prince Harry’s empire is ‘crumbling’… here’s why future projects will be a disaster
PRINCE Harry and Meghan’s empire is “crumbling” and future projects are bound to fail, according to royal experts.
Meghan’s Archetypes podcast was dumped by Spotify after running for only one series – meaning the couple potentially miss out on their full £18m payout.
And now royal expert Angela Levin has claimed future projects between the couple will be “a disaster”.
She told Sun Online: “Their value isn’t as high as it once was.”
Expert Richard Fitzwilliams also blasted the end of the Spotify deal as a “shocking failure”.
He added: “The idea was that several series would be produced. Since only one was, there’s no doubt the contract could be considered a failure. Clearly this relationship hasn’t been as mutually beneficial.”
The axing of the Achetypes podcast was confirmed in a joint statement from Archewell Audio, the couple’s content creation label, and Spotify.
It read: “Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”
Ms Levin said it was a sign the couple’s empire is “crumbling”.
She added: “People are fed up with them now.”
The Sun previously revealed the couple won’t be doing anymore tell-all interviews because “there’s nothing left to say”.
The couple’s simmering attack on the royals in their bombshell March 2021 interview with pal Oprah Winfrey was followed by badly-received Netflix series Harry & Meghan.
Instead the self-pitying Sussexes will only feature behind the Netflix cameras.
One insider told The Sun: “That period of their life is over — as there is nothing left to say.”
They have showed an interest in making “fun” flicks including romcoms for Netflix.
And this new content will have a “heavy focus on fictional scripted content”, a source told The Daily Telegraph.
A pal of the California-based duo added: “They’ve had enough of being in the spotlight for now.”
But Ms Levin blasted the “disastrous idea”.
She said: “There was a statement from them that they were no longer going to talk about the Royal Family and now want to stay behind the camera but that’s a disaster.
“No one’s interested in the producer or editor; they want the star. If they put themselves behind the camera there’ll be less interest.
“I also don’t think Meghan knows how to do that so she’ll need help, and people find her difficult to work for.”
Mr Fitzwilliams claimed Harry and Meghan will have to produce more for Netflix to stop their empire “crumbling”.
He added: “Losing Spotify is a huge blow. How hard we’ll have to wait and see.
“The collapse of the Spotify deal puts under the microscope the three deals they’ve got – Netflix and Random House. They’ve done remarkably little for Netflix.”
He claimed the couple could turn to Random House to bring out another book to prevent the collapse of further income streams.
“If they don’t placate Random House by giving them something they might lose that too. What exactly are they going to do when it comes to more books?
“Harry has said he could write another book with the 400 pages removed from a first draft of Spare. The royals wouldn’t like it.”
Mr Fitzwilliams added that the couple’s “unpredictability” worried the King.
He said: “They are at best unpredictable. It’s why they’re very difficult for the royal family to deal with. It’s the beginning of the crumbling of what they’ve built up.”
The end of the podcast means Harry and Meghan could now lose out on the whopping £18 million payday they agreed with Spotify when they signed the contract in 2020.
Meghan’s talent agency WME – who signed her on in April – said the team behind Archetypes “remain proud” of the podcast they created at Spotify.
But they added: “Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.”
Archewell is reportedly in ongoing discussions to get its content on other providers’ services, a person close to discussions told the Wall Street Journal.
On Archetype’s launch, Meghan wrote on the couple’s Archewell website: “I loved digging deep into meaningful conversation with my diverse and inspiring guests, laughing and learning with them.”
The Spotify podcast isn’t the first project to end suddenly.
Only last year, Meghan had her upcoming animated series Pearl chucked out by Netflix.
She had been working on it with Elton John’s producer husband David Furnish but the show was canned as part of cutbacks amid a collapse in Netflix subscribers.
WHAT ARE THEY WORTH?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are thought to have earned hundreds of millions of dollars since quitting the Royal Family. Among the pay cheques are:
- £88m Netflix deal
- £18 million dollar Spotify podcast – now canned
- £16 million advance for Prince Harry’s memoir Spare
- £13 million raised by Archewell
- £2 million-a-year from The King
- £750,000 per speech
Total: ~£137.8 million