Sussexes saddle up for Netflix shows about lifestyle and professional polo

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly working on two new series with Netflix based around gardening, cooking and professional polo.

The couple are said to have agreed to the projects as part of a five-year deal they signed with the streaming giant in 2020, reportedly earning $100 million in the process.

Deadline, the entertainment news outlet, reported that in the first series the Duchess will “celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship”. The second series focuses on professional polo, and is expected to be shot at the US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida.

Prince Harry’s involvement in the project is unclear, but he is known to be a keen polo player and is often photographed at charity matches.

“It pulls the curtain back on the grit and passion of the sport, capturing players and all it takes to compete at the highest level,” Deadline reported.

Both programmes are untitled and are said to be in the early stages of production. It marks the latest development in the pair’s Netflix projects, coming after their controversial Harry & Meghan documentary was released in 2022.

The six-part series, while ostensibly following the couple from their “courtship to their exit from royal life”, was seen by some as an attack on the Royal family. It made a series of claims about the monarchy’s financing of the slave trade, with one interviewee prompting outrage from palace insiders by calling the Commonwealth as “Empire 2.0.”

Sources close to the couple have previously told The Telegraph that the pair are working on several “fun” television series. “There will be more of a heavy focus on fictional, scripted content,” one said. “It will be romcoms, feel-good and light-hearted shows.”

Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in February that the Sussexes also had a film in development.

As part of the next stage of the Netflix deal, the Duke was said to be hoping to make a documentary set in Africa. It is unclear what has become of the project, which was apparently in its early stages.

The Duchess’s Archetypes podcast, streamed on Spotify as part of a reported $20 million deal, came to an end after a single series last year.

Bill Simmons, a senior podcasting executive at the music company, complained about the couple in his own podcast in June, referring to the Duke and Duchess as “f---ing grifters”.

“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,” he said. “It’s one of my best stories.”

In a previous episode, he claimed that Harry just “whines and gives interviews”, adding: “Shoot this guy to the sun. I’m so tired of this guy.”

Archetypes was released weekly and ran for 12 episodes, plus a Christmas special, focusing on the different labels and stereotypes levelled against women. It looks set to return for a second series after the Duchess signed an agreement with Lemonada Media in February.

Archewell, the Duke and Duchess’ production company, has previously worked on three series for Netflix.

Alongside Harry & Meghan, it produced Heart of Invictus, following ex-military personnel preparing for the Invictus Games, and Live to Lead, interviewing figures including the climate activist Greta Thunberg.

‘It pulls the curtain back on the grit and passion, capturing all it takes to compete at the highest level’ ‘There will be more of a heavy focus on fictional, scripted content. It will be romcoms, feel-good and lighthearted shows’