The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have signed a fresh multi-year film and television deal with Netflix, contradicting reports this year that the streaming company would not renew its contract with them.
Harry and Meghan, who struck a five-year deal in 2020 reportedly worth $100m (£78m) after stepping back from their duties as senior royals, have collaborated with Netflix on a number of projects, most recently the duchess’s lifestyle series With Love, Meghan.
Media reports had suggested that poor viewing figures for some of the couple’s projects meant that Netflix would not extend the “first look” deal, whereby the streamer has the first option on any projects their company, Archewell Productions, generates.
With Love, Meghan – alongside which the duchess launched her brand, As Ever, in which Netflix is now a partner – failed to break into the streamer’s top 300 shows in the first half of this year, while Harry’s documentary, Polo, ranked 3,346 of 7,000 shows.
The terms of the “multi-year, first look deal for film and television projects” were not disclosed.
The duchess said: “We’re proud to extend our partnership with Netflix and expand our work together to include the As Ever brand.
“My husband and I feel inspired by our partners who work closely with us and our Archewell Productions team to create thoughtful content across genres that resonates globally, and celebrates our shared vision.”
Their new output will include a second season of With Love, Meghan later this month, as well as a Christmas special in December.
Archewell Productions is also working on Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within, a documentary about orphaned children in the Masaka region of Uganda, where the “shadows of the HIV/Aids crisis linger”.
A boardroom dispute led to Harry stepping down in March from Sentebale, the charity he founded to help children orphaned by Aids in Lesotho. A spokesperson said at the weekend that the duke was considering setting up a new charitable organisation working “in the same space in the region”.
There is also “active development” on other Archewell projects with Netflix, which “span a variety of content genres”, including a feature adaptation of the bestselling romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake, by Carley Fortune.
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Not all the couple’s forays into content creation have been commercially successful. In 2023, a $20m deal they had signed with Spotify to produce podcasts came to an end after just 12 episodes.
Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and development labelled the pair “grifters” on his own podcast after the Sussexes announced the end of the relationship.
“I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation,” said Bill Simmons, who sold his company to Spotify for $196m in 2020 and gained a leadership role at the company. “The Fucking Grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them.”
Reports at the time said the royal couple had not met the productivity benchmark required to receive the full headline payout from the deal.