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The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is looking to position herself for a more favorable position on Netflix, playing famous lifestyle queens like Joanna Gaines and Gwyneth Paltrow at their own game. The Duchess and her husband, Prince Harry, signed a multi-year deal with Netflix in 2020, following their step back from their roles as senior royals. Their deal required them to create documentaries, feature films, scripted shows, docuseries, and children’s programming for the streamer via their company Archewell Productions.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Netflix Future Not Set in Stone
While Harry and Meghan’s Netflix contract would last until 2025, Hollywood insiders believe it would mark the end of any collaboration between them. One source revealed that neither Netflix nor the Sussexes have the intention of renewing the contract. Hence, while it lasts, Meghan Markle supposedly has one big agenda to climb up the ladder during these remaining months with Netflix.
Speaking to Page Six, the source disclosed that the Duchess is trying to position herself as a lifestyle entrepreneur. Per the source, Meghan Markle is gunning to crush her lifestyle game, matching up to the likes of Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow and Magnolia co-owner Joanna Gaines. Another insider divulged,
“From what I understand, I think Meghan will take on Martha Stewart, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ina Garten and play them at their own game.”
While Meghan Markle is presumably being influenced by powerful friends like her wedding gown designer Claire Waight Keller, she needs more than a good strategy to build her lifestyle empire. One source divulged,
“She would have to be relatable and natural, the way Drew Barrymore is. It can’t feel contrived or like she’s acting.”
Do the Royals Have What It Takes?
Former Snapchat executive Rachel Richardson also weighed in on Meghan Markle’s Netflix agenda. According to her, becoming the ideal lifestyle Queen requires one to open the door to the public all the way. More importantly, authenticity had to take the front seat, which invariably translates to sharing everything about their whole lives with the world.
One aspect Meghan seems particularly interested in is culinary, given her history of sharing recipes on her former blog, The Tig. In fact, the publishers of the Together/Grenfell cookbook reportedly pitched a cooking series featuring Meghan. But no conclusion on that yet. In the meantime, Meghan Markle and her husband Prince Harry remain focus on their many ongoing projects for Netflix and beyond.
The couple released their first docuseries, Harry & Meghan, on Netflix in December 2022. The Netflix series gave an inside look at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s lifestyle, their lives as members of the British royal family, and their decision to move to the United States. Several other projects have since followed, including Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus, and a handful of others still in development.