For years now, the British media has been obsessed with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix contract. They’ve actively tried to convince Netflix to dump the Sussexes, they’ve screamed and cried about every single one of the Sussexes’ Netflix projects, and they’ve openly wished for the Sussexes to lose all of their Netflix money so that Harry would (finally!) divorce Meghan and come back to the UK. What makes the British media’s years-long campaign even sadder is that Netflix has always sort of shrugged and said “we support the Sussexes, their projects are great.” It’s happened again – a Netflix executive has gone on the record about how Netflix is happy to work with the Sussexes.
Netflix bosses have vowed to stand by the Sussexes despite disappointing ratings and dire reviews for Prince Harry’s polo documentary. Amid growing rumours the streamer wants to part ways with the couple, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria insisted that the streamer remains ‘excited’ at the prospect of future projects with Harry and Meghan.
Prince Harry’s five-part documentary POLO was deemed a flop with critics deeming it ‘boring’. The couple failed to do any high profile promotion for the project sparking claims that there were problems with their £80m streaming deal with Netflix.
However, Ms Bajaria stood firm that the streaming giant remains committed to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s future, and insisted that Ms Markle’s new lifestyle cooking series With Love Meghan will be a hit.
Asked where Netflix ‘stand with that deal’ Ms Bajaria told the Mail: ‘We have Meghan’s new show coming out, which is great. It is such a great take on a lifestyle show and showcase for California, Montecito and nature. It really has great takeaways. I was like “oh my God, I want to really do that pasta.” There’s really easy great takeaways on life. I am really excited about that coming out.’
It is the first time a senior Netflix executive has gone on the record to confirm that The Sussexes will move forward with projects.
Ms Bajaria added that Meghan is working on a screen adaptation of the bestselling romance novel Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune. However as yet it remains in ‘development’ and has not been greenlit for production. Asked whether the movie is ‘definitely coming out’, she insisted: ‘It is in development. It is a great book, she had it and we are happy to do it. And we have things in development. Everyone is excited about what is coming. I am really excited for her show.’
The media executive spoke at the 2025 Next on Netflix Preview Event in Los Angeles, where one of the streamer’s top comics took a swipe at The Sussexes’ performances during the high profile presentation. Comic John Mulaney made a savage dig at them for having ‘no specific plan’ when they landed a content deal with American powerhouse Netflix.
It’s equal parts sad and hilarious that the Mail has spent all of this time and energy screaming and crying about “the Netflix contract,” only to be met with yet another Netflix executive saying “oh, we’re so excited by Harry and Meghan’s upcoming projects!” I still hope that Meghan really promotes the cooking show, because (don’t hate me) I still think Prince Harry left himself open to legitimate criticism by doing absolutely zero promotion for the Polo series. It’s not that damn difficult to give a couple of statements or interviews in support of your latest project, and by doing zero promotion, that becomes the story rather than the project itself.
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
