Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in their Netflix series. Picture: Supplied
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to have “nothing left to say” and will quit doing interviews about the royal family.
Prince Harry, 38, and his former actress wife Meghan, 41, were absent from Monday’s historic Order of the Garter procession in London, and former BBC presenter Andrew Neil claimed sources have said the couple will no longer be making content on their time with the royals – which he called a “good news story”.
Neil, 74, tweeted: “In these grim times a good news story: sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex say the pair will stop making self-referential podcasts for Spotify, tell-all Netflix documentaries – plus no more publishing memoirs and sitting down for interviews discussing the royal family, as they have ‘nothing left to say’.
“For all of which much thanks.”
The Sussexes have also been branded “f****** grifters” by a Spotify chief after the pair’s $20-million deal with the platform was canned.
Bill Simmons, 53, the sportscaster who is also head of Spotify’s international sports content, hit out at Harry and Meghan as the couple were dropped from the streaming giant last week following reports they did not meet "productivity requirements".
He said on his podcast: “‘The F****** Grifters’ – that’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them.
“I’ve got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea.
“It’s one of my best stories.”
He added: “I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation. That’s a podcast we should’ve launched with them.”
The collapse of the deal is said to be piling financial pressure on the Sussexes as bills for their lifestyle in Montecito, California, mount.
Their sprawling Tuscan-style estate, bought for $14.7-million in June 2020 and where they live with their son Archie, four, and two-year-old daughter Lilibet, has a hefty mortgage, with annual property taxes alone costing $144,427 (about R2.6) – with staff and maintenance on top.
The bill for the couple’s private security detail is believed to be about $2-million a year and there are legal fees from Harry’s battles with the UK press, as well as the fact they now have to keep their Archewell company afloat without Spotify’s cash.
A source told Page Six: “They’re not broke. But they’re going to have to keep spending their money, instead of banking it.”
The Sussexes’ Spotify deal was signed in 2020 but delivered just 13 hours of programming in two and half years – a dozen episodes of Meghan’s ‘Archetypes’ podcast as well as a one-off holiday special.