The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly going to “stop” making tell-all Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and taking part in interviews that reveal the inner workings of the royal family, because there is “nothing left to say”, a source has claimed.
After Harry and Meghan decided to take a step back from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California, it was not long before they started taking part in tell-all interviews and planning to make their first Netflix documentary.
Following their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey back in 2021, the couple went on to release a six-part Netflix docuseries titled Harry & Meghan in January 2023. In the same month, Prince Harry released his revealing, controversial memoir Spare and pursued a press tour giving a series of exclusive interviews to major broadcasters in the UK and US.
In his memoir, Prince Harry made several damaging claims concerning members of his family, alleging that his brother William physically attacked him and accusing his family of having a disregard for his wife, Meghan Markle.
The couple, who celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary last month, have been heavily criticised for insisting they want privacy, all while appearing in interviews and making allegations about The Firm.
“That period of their life is over as there is nothing left to say,” one source told The Sun, adding that the Netflix and memoir period was the couple’s “era of visibility” and that they “hoped” 2023 would be their “year of reconciliation” with the Royal Family.
The Independent has contacted representatives of the Sussexes for comment.
In 2020, the couple signed a five-year contract with Netflix, under their production company Archewell Productions, reportedly worth $100 million, with the aim to produce documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and children’s programming. So far, they have been behind two programmes; Live to Lead, which features interviews with world leaders and celebrities including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem and their personal docuseries Harry & Meghan.
The Sussexes were ridiculed in an episode of South Park in February, which depicts the Prince and Princess of Canada, a young royal couple resembling Harry and Meghan, who loudly beg for privacy while drawing attention to themselves.
The characters are promoting the prince’s book – Waaagh – the cover very similar to Harry’s book cover.
Members of the royal family have not directly commented on the claims Harry made in Spare, but relations between the Sussexes and the rest of the family are understood to be fraught, as Harry did not appear to speak to his brother William at King Charles’s coronation last month, while Meghan stayed in California with their children.
Prince Harry’s visit to London for the historic event was a brief one, as he bolted back to Heathrow Airport almost immediately after the ceremony finished and arrived in Los Angeles that evening.
The source’s claim that the couple has reportedly decided to halt the making of documentaries and books comes less than two weeks after the couple’s representatives said they had been involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase through the streets of New York after the Ms Foundation Awards Ceremony, where Meghan was honoured with the Women of Vision Award.
Next week, Prince Harry will arrive in London to return to the High Court in June as he takes Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) to court over allegations of phone hacking. But King Charles will miss his visit, as he will be holidaying at his home in Romania for five days.
