It’s the news royal-watchers have been waiting for – Meghan and Harry have revealed their next career move.
Six months after stepping back from royal duties, it was announced this week that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have signed a multi-year deal with Netflix.
The couple, who moved from the UK to Meghan’s native California this year with their son Archie, are set to produce films, series and kids’ shows with the streaming platform.
They want to make content “that informs but also gives hope,” they’ve said, but what will that look like?
Will they be onscreen?
It’s unlikely that we’ll see Meghan reprising her role in legal drama Suits – or in any starring roles. She’s previously indicated that she doesn’t intend to act again.
But that doesn’t mean she and Harry won’t feature at all. Meghan has already gone back to her showbiz roots this year, narrating nature documentary Elephant for Disney+.
Just last week, meanwhile, Harry appeared in Netflix documentary Rising Phoenix about the Paralympic Games. Given that he helped to found the Invictus Games for war veterans, the move was a perfect fit.
These small appearances indicate that Meghan and Harry might well feature in the shows and films they make.
What will their content be about?
Though vague, the language of Harry and Meghan’s statement this week hints at what we could see from them on Netflix.
They mention “diverse communities and their environments”, so we might expect documentaries, movies and show that explore two major current issues – race and climate change.
Both of these topics are pretty politically charged right now, which would make them tricky to touch if Harry and Meghan were still working royals as they would have to be neutral on anything political. It will be interesting to see how much they are now willing to say through their Netflix content.
Meghan has also been outspoken on feminism and female empowerment since long before she met Harry. She famously wrote to a dish soap brand aged 11 to take issue with some sexist marketing, prompting the company to alter its ad.
She later went on become an advocate for UN Women and just last month she shared a video of a conversation between her and feminist icon Gloria Steinem on voter suppression. We’d be surprised if we didn’t see something around women’s rights from Meghan on Netflix.
What else do we know?
Not much just yet. Netflix hasn’t disclosed how much it paid to get the Sussexes on board, though it’s estimated the streaming service will have forked out over $100 million.
There’s no denying that snapping up two of the most famous people in the world is a big deal for the platform.
“The value of this signing to Netflix is unquantifiable,” London talent agent Jonathan Shalit told the New York Times. “Never before has a real-life royal of this magnitude gone commercial and to Hollywood.”
