The bank of dad is officially closed.
Things don’t seem to go well for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle right now.
Shortly after a seemingly tense day at the polo last week, the couple learned that one of their marquee projects, Pearl – an animated children’s show for Netflix – had been neglected.
According to New Idea, Harry and Meghan were informed that a portion of their lucrative deal had fallen through “long before the rest of the world found out.”
As a result, it prompts the question of why the couple shoehorned a meeting with Harry’s grandmother, the Queen, and 15 minutes with Prince Charles into their trip to the Netherlands for the Invictus Games last month.
At the time, reports in the UK circulated that Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, had pleaded their case to become ‘part-time royals.’ When they decamped to America in 2020 and announced their intention to become financially independent of the monarchy, it was initially denied.
“If they knew this Netflix shake-up was coming, they would’ve been in panic mode before they went to England,” says a palace source. “Their content deal with Netflix is the bulk of their income and a major reason they can afford their $20 million mansions in Montecito – not to mention the eye-watering property taxes that go with it.”
According to our source, Prince Charles, 73, “remained reticent” to give the couple’s wish for a hybrid role in which they earn money privately and use Crown income. He believes it would reveal the monarchy to backlash due to conflicts of interest.
“Charles is still stinging over Harry’s very public claim that he cut them off, which wasn’t true,” says a source.
It was extremely frustrating for Charles as a future king and a father to see them return, cap in hand.
“Now that the Netflix news has come out, he’s starting to suspect their motives are more driven by money than a true willingness to heal their family problems. I can’t see Charles handing over a single penny.”
Meghan still has a lucrative podcast deal with Spotify set to launch next month, while Harry’s documentary about the Invictus Games is still on Netflix’s schedule, which makes Charles nervous.
“The Sussexes will be desperate to keep these projects afloat, or their American dream will be over,” explains a source.
“It is finally dawning on them that their real worth to viewers or listeners comes from spilling royal secrets – aka ‘their truths’ – and the concern is they’ll double-down on that to keep their lucrative deals in place. And if they do, any chance of Charles opening up his wallet will fade.”
