(NewsNation) — Readers of this column must be having a bit of deja vu.
News “broke” in outlets like People and Page Six on Wednesday that Netflix isn’t renewing its $100 million dollar deal with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle Sussex.
This, despite the fact that the same news actually broke exclusively in this column last March when I wrote the streamer was “done” with her, despite announcing an already filmed “second season” of her bland cookery and entertainment show, “With Love, Meghan.”
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As I wrote on March 7:
“It’s necessary for a second season because Netflix has sunk so much money into as ever — and she can promote the products in the second season she couldn’t promote in this one due to all the trademark hassle,” the insider said. “But yeah, they’re still done — they’re trying to recoup the investment.”
Meghan, Harry have had little success at Netflix besides docuseries
Not that anyone should be shocked — Markle and Prince Harry haven’t had any success with their $100 million Netflix deal other than their 2022 docuseries “Harry & Meghan,” in which they spilled all the royal tea about Harry’s relatives. The other shows they created — “Heart of Invictus,” “Live to Lead” and Harry’s “Polo” — bombed.
And “With Love, Meghan” — panned as “vain”, “narcissistic” and “pointless” by critics and fans alike — was an expensive show to make. The show’s director, Mike Steed, worked with Anthony Bourdain on the CNN show “Parts Unknown,” and given the rent on the $5 million home she shot in, insiders surmise each episode’s cost ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, in “With Love, Meghan” on Netflix. (Netflix)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a reception for young people at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on February 13, 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Milligan – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
FILE – In this Oct. 2, 2019, file photo, Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appear at the Creative Industries and Business Reception at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Johannesburg. Their first Netflix series will center on the Invictus Games, which gives sick and injured military personnel and veterans the opportunity to compete in sports. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Productions announced Tuesday its first series to hit the streaming service. (Dominic Lipinski/Pool via AP, File)
TOPSHOT – A woman poses as she watches an episode of the newly released Netflix docuseries “Harry and Meghan” about Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in London on December 8, 2022. – The first three episodes of a docuseries on Prince Harry and his wife Meghan aired, with expectations of more damaging claims about British royal family life. The six-part fly-on-the-wall documentary, “Harry and Meghan”, promises to lift the lid on events that prompted the pair to quit royal life and move to the United States in 2020. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
I can’t wait for people to also claim my other scoop that Netflix will attempt to keep Markle around — at least for one more season of “With Love”— as part of a piecemeal deal so it can try once more to make her product line “As Ever” a commercial hit.
‘With Love, Meghan’ will get third season
As I wrote on June 5: “Markle will be granted a third season, regardless of viewership, as Netflix is invested in making her product line and show a success… It is the first time Netflix has fully produced a product line and, like QVC or Home Shopping Network, sees it as a new cash cow for them (doing shows and selling products from these shows that Netflix manufactures).”
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But Markle is facing an uphill battle. Despite name recognition worldwide and mountains of press, her show didn’t even break the top 300 shows of the year for Netflix and her popularity ratings are dismal. Her agency, WME, is on the verge of dropping her, and she has been accused of using her royal title (something she is not supposed to do) to make money.
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So it is no wonder that she endorsed her and Harry’s new PR team meeting with palace reps earlier this month.
As one insider told me last week: “(Meghan) realizes she miscalculated when she orchestrated Megxit and then basically smeared the Royal family in the Oprah Winfrey interview and the Netflix docuseries… ”The royal family does not need Harry or Meghan,” my insider said. “But Harry and Meghan need the royal family… they are only valuable individually if they are tied to the royal family. Being ‘Royal’ translates to money and deals for them. If (Harry and Meghan) are cast aside, they have no value.”
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