Why did Harry and Meghan Markle lose $100 million?
Aside from new failures for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Windsor family has also been in the news for the rivalry between Prince William and his aunt Anne to see who works less.
BarcelonaHarry and Meghan of Sussex are increasingly resembling a wet apple tree dog. At first, they had bristly, shiny fur, but after dipping their toes in the pool of reality, they resemble a skeletal little rat with only eyes and bones. The couple, who when they left the British monarchy in March 2020 seemed to have a promising private future ahead thanks to their supposed professional talent and social magnetism, have become over time like one of those little dogs when they get wet and reveal the harsh reality behind the pomposity of their furry coat. For the couple, who felt frustrated by the inherent constraints and limitations of the monarchy, time has shown them what we working-class people have known all our lives but that the privileged often forget: we all suffer limitations, but those with fewer resources to cope with them are always worse. Therefore, for better or worse, it was preferable to stay in the palace.
This reflection comes in line with the latest reality check the Sussexes have suffered: the non-renewal of their contract with Netflix, which they signed five years ago just after leaving the Crown behind. After having failed to launch any truly successful projects, this new obstacle leaves them in a deadlock professionally and closes the door on renewing the agreement they had with the audiovisual platform, which earned them no less than 100 million dollars.
According to the media that have confirmed it, People and The Sun, the non-renewal of the contract with Netflix is due to the fact that "there is no longer an appetite for more content." The truth is that this thesis is somewhat flawed, since it's clear that the appetite for work is not what motivates either of them. What motivates them all is the money they earn from the projects, and the fact that they don't want to sign such a commitment again is due to the poor performance of the former—a project too expensive for the audience figures generated—and also of the latter—who are not willing to do anything more than what they have done, nor to do it at all.
This contract leak, which seems quite deliberate after the platform recently stated it had no intention of canceling any agreement, seeks to seal the Sussex-Netflix outcome as amicable, but it's a complete setback: Harry and Meghan haven't had commercial success on their own. In fact, since leaving the royal family, these have been the moments in which they've criticized his family members. In other words, for their contract to be renewed, they had to be willing to criticize them more often and more harshly. They'd have to be willing to one day return to the protection of the monarchy, which perhaps no longer seems such a thankless job to them.
The contract with Netflix, signed in 2020 and managed through Archewell Productions, the company owned by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, started well, with a documentary about the couple that broke audience records upon its release; the rest of the projects were not as fortunate. With love, Meghan, released earlier this year, became an international laughingstock, criticized far more than seen, with only 5.3 million views, a minimal figure for someone as globally renowned as the couple. Aside from this contract, the Sussexes have proven to be the bluff of the decade after signing a multi-million-dollar contract with Spotify that was also never reissued because the podcasts they recorded there were hardly listened to by anyone.
The 'exploited' princess
And if those who left the monarchy seem like wet apple trees, those who stayed seem more like angry Dobermans. The protagonist of the Windsors' latest domestic drama was Princess Anne, who complained bitterly about her overflowing schedule. The reason for this work overload is that her nephew William of Wales, the future King of the British, hasn't taken on any extra money during the entire time his father has been sidelined for cancer treatment.
As published Tatler, Princess Anna can't keep up with the work she has to do. About to turn 75, the only daughter and wife of Queen Elizabeth II attended 474 royal engagements in 2024, which means almost two events a day if you take into account that there are days when she doesn't worksThe problem has worsened because there is a type of event known as investitures—at which royal distinctions such as medals and other awards are presented—at which only kings and princes can preside over the ceremony. Since the king cannot do so and his son does not want to—Kate Middleton is not involved because she has also been ill—all these events have fallen directly on Anne, who has already said enough. If William has a clear vision, he will soon try to restore the good humor of his aunt Anna, whom the British people adore almost more than him, who—unlike her...—is the recipient of all the palace's propaganda efforts. In fact, the popular affection for Anne is quite understandable, since in the last financial year she held 100 more public events than her brother, King Charles III.
According to a study last year by YouGov, Anna is the third most liked member of the Windsor family by Britons, with 71% of them having a positive opinion of her. Only Kate Middleton (76%) and William (73%) surpass her. In fact, Middleton recently surpassed her husband in the ranking. royal, having previously been third. King Charles' fourth position in the same ranking also stands out, 8 points behind his sister Anne. Some rely heavily on the privilege of not having the reigning person elected by the people...
Extended (and stained) vacation
Nor do they seem concerned about the image projected by the Dutch monarchs. Maxima and Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands have gone on an eight-week vacation to Greece, where they own a villa valued at more than five million euros, which they bought when they sold their property in Mozambique. The Dutch monarchs' plans lacked nuances: they wanted to be away from their country and royal duties for two months, something they were only willing to break on one occasion, on August 15, when Willem-Alexander was scheduled to attend the commemoration of Japan's surrender in The Hague in 1945.
Evidently, the country's press has been up in arms over how Willem-Alexander, Maxima, and their three daughters have not shown any appreciation all summer for the country that pays for their villa, as they haven't spared a single week to demonstrate that the Netherlands is a beautiful place before fleeing wherever they please. In other words, the Dutch monarchs didn't want to do what the rest of their European colleagues do, who always pretend to spend their summers in their own countries before disappearing to who knows where. That is, because their position obliges them, they always have a little bit of real summer until they actually start having their real summer. But well, what's preferable? Not to make the effort to dissemble but to be completely transparent like the Dutch, or to make the effort to dissemble for a while and then have the news blackout like the ones here?
