Royal expert reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix deal

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix deal is a ‘slap in the face’, a royal expert has claimed on Palace Confidential.

The Sussexes signed a new ‘multi-year, first look deal for film and television projects’ with the streaming giant – understood to be worth less for the couple than their previous contract.

The ‘first-look’ arrangement means Netflix can say yes or no to new film or television projects before anyone else – allowing them to pick and choose what they invest in.

The esteemed journalist went on to describe the new deal as a ‘downgrade’, claiming it falls a long way from the jackpot figure of Harry and Meghan’s original contract in 2020.

‘Let’s deal with the facts,’ he said. ‘Harry himself in his interview with Oprah Winfrey talked about how he needed money and he needed it quickly because security and money had been cut off from his father.

‘He said, “we sign these deals with Spotify and Netflix” clearly implying that they were worth a fortune.’

Indeed, the Duke and Duchess signed a five-year deal in September 2020 to make documentaries and films for the American streaming giant said to have been worth up to $100million (£75million).

Referring now to their new deal, Richard said: ‘This is none of a kind from everything I have heard. It is just a first look deal so the only money they will receive is if the programmes are commissioned.’

‘I mean what Harry would want would be another deal he can boast to Oprah Winfrey about how much it’s worth but it’s clear that’s not coming.’

Richard listed two programmes from the Sussexes that are scheduled to appear on Netflix in the coming months: A ‘holiday special’ of With Love, Meghan and a ‘documentary about children in Uganda’.

‘By all accounts,’ he said, ‘it is a big downgrade. It remains to be seen how much money they make from it.’ 

A spokesman for the Sussexes said the couple received an up-front fee from Netflix, adding: ‘I can say no more owing to commercially confidential contractual agreements.’

Turning to Rebecca English, the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor, host of the show Jo Elvin said: ‘It’s a little bit of a shine off the original deal, isn’t it?’

‘Depends who you talk to,’ Rebecca said. ‘Like everything with the Sussexes, it’s very divisive.

‘Those that are their great supporters say, “this is a triumph. All of these media personalities were predicting that their deal was dead in the water, was going to be allowed to expire. See! We’ve got this renewed commitment from Netflix – this is a triumph!” 

‘Those that do not like Harry and Meghan and are critics of them are saying this is a massive downgrade from what they had before. It’s a loosening of ties from Netflix.’

Rebecca, who has been covering the royals since 2004, went on to give a ‘shout-out’ to the Daily Mail’s Chief Showbusiness Writer Alison Boshoff who ‘wrote that this was going to happen a month ago’. 

‘She has very good contacts in the Showbiz industry,’ Rebecca explained. ‘She said it would be a first look deal, there would be a few more forthcoming programmes, there would be a holiday special from Meghan on her With Love, Meghan programme.

‘She got everything right so I asked Alison what she thought and she is somewhere in the middle of this.

Quoting Alison, Rebecca explained that Harry and Meghan’s new deal seems to be ‘pretty par for the course for the Netflix business model at the moment’.

‘What they’ve been given now is on par with people like the Obamas and their Higher Ground productions, they have all been given these similar downgraded deals,’ she said.