When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to California, they brought with them something that even Hollywood can't manufacture: royalty.
But while Harry and Meghan had some success in the entertainment world, their Hollywood stint proved short-lived, and news of their return to the UK was greeted with a certain apathy in California.
In their pursuit of the American dream, they said they were looking for more than just financial independence. In their famous 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan described the freedom to make her own decisions as “libertarian.”
Harry later said that the United States provided his family with a level of privacy and freedom "they would no doubt have enjoyed" in the United Kingdom, and it was the life his mother Diana would have wished for him. The couple settled in Montecito, a celebrity hotspot a few hours north of Los Angeles, where the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rob Lowe are close to them.
This was followed by multi-million dollar deals for podcasts and Netflix. “They were in such high demand, they were names that caught the press and got instant attention,” says Stacy Jones, CEO of Hollywood Brand, a marketing and public relations firm.
“There are endless parties, endless events, and endless things to do if you're a celebrity in Hollywood,” she says. “But you quickly realize that all that endless stuff is to promote something to sell it.”
The royal couple had a lot to sell. “I think part of the reason I was surprised by the Sussexes leaving the United States is that it really seemed like they were gradually settling into their life in California,” says Elizabeth Holmes, a Los Angeles-based journalist and royal follower and author of Her Royal Highness: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style.
Not everyone is sad to see them leave. The New York Post, which was often harsh in its criticism of the couple, greeted the news of their departure with the headline “The throne is back!”, declaring that “America’s long national nightmare is over.”
The tabloid's jibe was largely downplaying the couple's rare achievement in Hollywood. We were able to achieve what most newcomers to Film City fail to do: convince some of its largest companies to invest huge sums of money in them. However, attracting that initial investment has proven easier than maintaining it.
Their multi-year deal with Spotify, reportedly worth up to $25 million, resulted in the production of Meghan's 12-episode podcast titled "Architypes," which has hosted figures such as Serena Williams and Mariah Carey. But in 2023, Spotify and the couple's company, Archwell Audio, announced that they had "mutually agreed to end their partnership."
As for their five-year agreement with Netflix, which was signed in 2020 and its value reportedly ranged between $60 and $100 million, it resulted in the production of several programs. However, it has since been replaced by a less profitable arrangement, amid a broader decline in the entertainment sector. Behind these projects, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's production company has also seen a high rate of staff turnover, with reports that some former employees were secretly calling themselves the "Sussex Survivors Club".
Harry has also achieved commercial success, but largely while telling his own royal story. His memoir, “Spear,” was a publishing phenomenon, for which he reportedly received a $20 million advance. More than six million copies of the book were sold around the world, making it the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time.
As part of the book's promotional campaign, Harry held a public interview with Dr. Gabor Mate, a specialist in psychological trauma, in which he discussed how his childhood within the royal family influenced the formation of his personality. In an interview with BBC's Newsnight on Thursday, Mattei said Harry seemed "very friendly, very sensitive" and that he was someone who did his best to make sure he "didn't pass on his trauma to his children".
The Duke of Sussex remains a very marketable figure when the topic is related to Harry himself, the royal family, or issues with which he has long been associated. He became chief impact officer at BetterUp, a Silicon Valley coaching and mentoring company, and co-created and produced the mental health documentary series The Me You Can See on Apple TV Plus with Oprah Winfrey.
His Netflix projects relied largely on his already known interests. The “Heart of Invictus” series told the stories of wounded and wounded military veterans preparing to participate in the games he founded, while the “Polo” series explored another of his personal passions. Neither has come close to the level of attention garnered by the six-part documentary series “Harry and Meghan,” or the amount of attention his revelations in Spear’s book have generated.
In one of his relatively rare major public appearances, Harry also delivered the keynote address during an informal meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2022, on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day. He then talked about his mother, his connection to Africa, and Mandela’s legacy. But he seemed to have difficulty breaking free from the stereotypes associated with his role as a member of the US royal family.
As for Megan, a former actress in the series “Suits,” she has moved on to present a series on Netflix that deals with cooking and lifestyle. This content showcased their idyllic, peaceful life, including cute “rescue chickens” and freshly grown strawberries, against a backdrop of stunning views of the Santa Ynez Mountains. "With Love, Megan" was canceled after two seasons, but was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Lifestyle Series category. Earlier this year, Netflix also ended its involvement with Meghan's lifestyle brand As Ever.
“Netflix makes movies,” says Jones, the branding expert. “Netflix doesn’t make jam.” Some criticized Meghan's "carefully curated" lifestyle, saying it lacked a sense of reality. But Jones acknowledges that even negative publicity can be valuable from a brand-building perspective if it keeps a person at the center of public debate. Megan's projects have kept her name on the scene and given audiences something to watch or buy.
“By moving to Britain, they appear to be continuing to seek to maintain closeness to the royal family to legitimize themselves or, in some cases, for commercial gain,” Kensi Schofield says on the royal-focused podcast. She added, in the podcast episode that bears her name, saying: “Since the launch of the As Ever brand, Meghan has been impersonating a member of the royal family, selling her own teas and fruit jams.”
“Hollywood is currently going through a very difficult phase, and its scene has become divided and fragmented,” Jones says. “It's very difficult to start a company, launch it, and keep it going,” she adds. “When it's started by someone who is a mega-star, it needs very good people to support it.”
They may no longer occupy the same status as when they first arrived in the US, and may say they are returning to the UK to live as "ordinary citizens", but the couple is unlikely to keep a low profile. “They will never become ordinary citizens at any point in their lives,” Jones says. She added: "They are not people who can become secondary characters in the background. They are the stars of their own story, or the stars of someone else's story. Even if they are lower-level stars, they are still stars."
