Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s £135m deal with Netflix ‘at risk after pitching boring shows’
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle’s £135million Netflix deal is at risk after they pitched boring ideas, it is claimed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are under a lot of pressure to come up with a hit for the streaming service, an industry source said.
They are yet to release anything and Meghan’s animated series Pearl, created through Archwell Productions, was dumped last week.
It comes after The Sun revealed that palace minders are on guard to stop the couple’s film crews from shooting inside royal events at The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
An industry source told the: “Harry and Meghan's slate of projects could be in jeopardy as they have announced plans to make shows that are educational and inspiring, rather than sexy and sensational.
“The pressure will be on them to come up with a hit.”
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Netflix bosses are also understood to be annoyed that they are giving their best interviews to other broadcasters.
Last month a film crew was shadowing Prince Harry, 37, for his Heart of Invictus tour when he instead decided to tell NBC's Hoda Kotb about his secret clear-the-air talks with The Queen.
And the couple gave their bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview just a month after announcing their Netflix deal.
One source said: "Netflix would have loved the first comments about the visit to the Queen for the documentary.
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"There was a real sense of annoyance that they were made to another broadcaster.
"Netflix is paying them millions and they're giving all their best interviews to other networks. Do they expect Netflix to be happy about that?"
Meghan, 40, planned to create Pearl based on a 12-year-old girl inspired by famous female figures throughout history.
But the show was binned in the development stage as part of cutbacks amid a collapse in Netflix's subscribers.
The streaming giant lost more than 200,000 customers in the three months to March and its share price tumbled from £567 a year ago to less than £162.
Meghan worked as executive producer on the show alongside Elton John's husband David Furnish.
The Sun Online yesterday revealed Meghan had quietly removed reference to her series on the Archewell website.
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The couple also have a deal with music streaming service Spotify.
A Netflix spokesman said: “Archewell Productions remains a valued partner and we are continuing to work together on a number of projects.”
