By Herbert Bauernebel
Serious setback for Prince Harry (38) and wife Meghan Markle (41) – and this time it’s not about the image, it’s about the money.
Audio streaming service Spotify has announced the end of the Duchess of Sussex’s Archetypes podcast. There will be no second season of the audio show in which the former actress chatted with celebrities (Mariah Carey, Serena Williams, etc.). The contract was worth $25 million. The sudden end threatens a loss of ten million.
“Your Star is Falling” said PR guru Mark Borkowski in the “Daily Mail” plain text.
Is the Sussexes’ whole business empire shaky now? After moving to the USA in 2020, experts believed that awareness and media hype could create a billion mark. Instead, revenue is now shrinking.
Mexit couple earned a fortune with deals worth millions
BUT: It is also true that the duo has earned a golden nose so far!
► The streaming giant Netflix shoveled most of the money into their accounts: the contracts are worth almost 100 million euros. The documentary series “Harry & Meghan” made headlines worldwide with the revelations about the royal family feud. With 28 million viewers, Netflix reported a hit. The premiere broke records. A sequel is to be negotiated: cameras could follow the couple doing charitable educational work in South Africa.
► Spotify has been the second mainstay so far: Meghan has delivered 12 episodes in the last two years. But there were growing concerns about lousy ratings and long breaks between episodes. And criticism of the content: “It sounds as if you were locked in a room with a self-absorbed yoga teacher during a wellness treatment,” blasphemed the British “Times”. When Spotify recently announced that they had “overinvested” in some deals worth millions, Archetypes was probably meant.
► The till rang loudly at Harry’s general settlement with his own family, rolled out in the brutally open biography “Spare”: The advance amounted to 20 million dollars. Here, however, the investments made by the publishing house Penguin Random House are likely to have paid off: the revelations of the Buckingham breaker set records with 3.2 million copies sold worldwide in the first week of sales.
What is the power duo planning now? First of all: raking in money will become more difficult…
The couple’s popularity has been plummeting lately. All in all, the constant lamentation about injustices of all kinds seems to have gone too far. The satirical show South Park also exposed her insistence on her privacy while simultaneously craving publicity with delicious mockery.
Does Meghan now want to copy Gwyneth Paltrow’s success?
They still have big plans, especially the Duchess!
► Meghan recently initialed a contract with the legendary entertainment agency William Morris Endeavor, which represents stars like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (51). According to insiders, she wants to become a “power player” in Hollywood with the deal.
► The new offensive is set to begin with a reboot of her lifestyle blog The Tig. It seems she wants to emulate the success of Gwyneth Paltrow (“Goop”) and Kourtney Kardashian (“Poosh”) through this website. It seemed no coincidence that she recently dined with Paltrow, who built a $250 million mark with “Goop.”
► The Telegraph also reported the “Mexit” couple want to develop romantic comedy series for Netflix through their media company and charity Archewell.
► It is assumed that there could also be a new book deal for her in the future. She previously wrote the children’s book The Bench.
According to experts, however, the challenges of raking in money are increasing: because in addition to the battered image, their life confessions are now exhausted in practically all facets and media formats. An insider even claimed to The Sun that the Sussexes’ public orgy may be coming to an end.
BECAUSE: There is “simply nothing more to tell …”