When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived in the United States in 2020, they were met with a wave of enthusiasm. But according to royal commentators, that early goodwill has since faded, with sentiment in America shifting noticeably against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
After stepping away from royal life in the UK, the couple appeared to find a warm reception across the Atlantic. American media and entertainment companies seemed eager to back Meghan, an American-born duchess, and Harry as they set out to build a new life and career.
Major commercial opportunities followed quickly. Netflix is said to have struck a deal worth around £60 million with the Sussexes, while Spotify reportedly committed £15 million to Archewell Audio later in 2020.
However, royal experts featured in Channel 5’s documentary Harry & Meghan: Has America Had Enough? argue that the mood has changed. They claim a string of business setbacks has led some of the very organisations that once championed the couple to take a far less supportive view.
Richard Kay, Editor at Large for the Daily Mail, said there had initially been a strong sense of optimism surrounding Harry and Meghan’s move to America.
“America likes people who are having another go, and Harry, in a sense, was having another go,” he said. “He felt he’d been driven out of his home country, he got this lovely American wife, and I think America respected him for coming to them and building a new career on their side of the pond.”
It was no surprise that Netflix quickly came calling, hoping for the exclusive tell-all about their experiences in the royal family. But Harry and Meghan first sat down with Oprah for CBS before Harry released further insight in his book Spare.
Meghan and Netflix split
‘Netflix were the least beneficial. Oprah got the first bite of the cherry, and Spare had loads of exclusive materials that hadn’t been told,’ journalist Jack Royston told the show.
Author Alexander Larman, author of Power and Glory: Elizabeth II and the Rebirth of Royalty, added: ‘Netflix are not a stupid company. But they are beginning to look, very strongly, like they had gambled far too much money on a public appetite for a brand that doesn’t exist.’
‘In America, there is this great love and affection for the royal family, but there’s also the sense that Harry and Meghan were not quite the people they thought they were going to be.’
Meghan split from Netflix in March and took complete control of her As Ever food and homeware brand – just months after the streaming giant dropped her lifestyle show.
Insiders claimed Meghan thought Netflix was being too ‘cautious’ and wants to ‘go global’, believing her brand can ‘stand on its own’.
But the abrupt split came just two months after the streaming giant axed With Love, Meghan, which ran for two series.
The documentary explained that another turning point in the couple’s perception was the release of the February 2023 South Park episode, ‘The World Wide Privacy Tour’.
The show ridiculed Meghan and Harry’s demands for privacy while on a publicity blitz for the prince’s autobiography ‘Waaaagh’ – a dig at Harry’s memoir Spare.
The cartoon prince and princess carried banners emblazoned with the ‘Respect Our Privacy’ slogan, and they shouted at anyone who looked their way.
Journalist Emma Loffhagen explained: ‘In America, that was perhaps the first time that that perception had been broadcast in that way. It’s a sign that the tide was turning, and that scathing tone would become more popular.’
Spotify deal axed
At the same time, the Sussexes’ relations with Spotify also took a turn. The streaming giant and the Sussexes’ audio production company Archewell Audio reportedly signed a £15million ($20million) deal in late 2020.
A ‘well-placed’ royal source told The Mirror at the time: ‘Meghan was the driving force behind the deal. She was incredible in the meetings with executives and had a clear vision of what they, as a couple, had to offer.
‘Spotify’s whole business plan is to acquire the world’s most talked about celebrities in one place and Harry and Meghan fit the bill entirely. It’s a win-win scenario.’
After the deal was signed, Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and advertising business officer, issued a gushing statement which read: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may live in California, but the power of their voices rests in their status as citizens of the world.
‘That they are embracing the extraordinary capacity of podcasts on Spotify while also seeking to elevate underrepresented voices is a testament to their appreciation for the potential of audio storytelling.’
But after one season of Meghan’s podcast Archetypes, Spotify announced it was axing the deal in June 2023.
Insiders lift the lid
Insiders claimed at the time that the royal couple did not meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout.
Sources have since claimed the couple ‘wanted a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas’.
Some of Harry’s concepts allegedly ranged from reviewing hot chocolate every week to interviewing the likes of Putin and Donald Trump about being ‘sociopaths’.
Meanwhile, Meghan is said to have found it hard to commit to a single idea before ‘backtracking’ and ‘watering them down’, meaning each episode had to be ‘completely reimagined late in production’, the article stated.
The couple were also disparaged by podcaster Bill Simmons, who worked with the Sussexes at Spotify.
In June 2023, he referred to the couple as ‘grifters’, adding: ‘I have got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.… [Expletive] them. The grifters.’
Spotify appeared to have made a business-led decision that the Duke and Duchess don’t have the media brand value they once had.
Harry & Meghan: Has America Had Enough will air on Channel 5 on June 13 at 8.35pm.
