Aug. 31, 2026

Is Meghan Markle’s UK Return Only a Six-Month Trial, and Did the Sussexes’ Hollywood Dream Fail?

Show Notes
Transcript

Is Meghan Markle truly moving back to Britain—or has she agreed only to a six-month experiment with an exit strategy? Harry and Meghan’s representatives acknowledge that the Sussexes do not know whether their UK stay will last six months, one year or longer.
We examine a new assessment of their California years: Which Sussex projects succeeded? Why did nothing match the enormous audience for Harry & Meghan? What happened to their Netflix, Spotify and As Ever partnerships—and how much money might the couple have personally retained from their entertainment deals?

Plus, are Harry and Meghan returning to protect the royal titles and commercial value attached to Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet? Could King William remove those titles? And how will Queen Camilla handle Harry’s return after he called her “dangerous” while promoting Spare?

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Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host,

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Mark Francis. A report suggests Meghan Markle may be approaching

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the Sussexes' return to Britain as something of a trial

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run rather than an open-ended relocation. An unnamed source told

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Rob Shooter, Meghan is agreeing to try it, but she

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isn't moving back to Britain. Six months is the test.

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She wants an exit strategy. A representative for Harry and

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Meghan has already told the New York Times that the

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couple themselves do not know exactly how long this chapter

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will last. The representative said, It'll be an extended period

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of time. It could be six months, it could be

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a year, it could be more. I don't think even

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they know yet. The New York Times took a broader

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look at Harry and Meghan's six years in California, and

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its conclusion is that the enormous commercial promise that accompanied

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their arrival never quite materialized. Harry and Meghan arrived in

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California in 2020 with major deals from Netflix and Spotify

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and expectations that their fame could be turned into a

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significant entertainment business. There was one undeniable blockbuster. Netflix says

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the six-part Harry and Meghan documentary generated 23.4 million views

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during its initial release and has now accumulated about 70

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million views, but nothing else from Archibald Productions came close.

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Projects including Live to Lead and Polo failed to match

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that audience, and Netflix chose not to renew the Sussex's

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lucrative overall production agreement in 2025. Instead, according to the Times,

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Netflix shifted them to a much narrower arrangement in which

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they are paid when the streamer actually picks up one

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of their projects. Netflix does, however, continue to pay for

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Archwell Productions' office space at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Megan's

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With Love Megan followed a similar trajectory. According to figures

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reported by the Times, Season 1 attracted 6.1 million views.

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Season 2 dropped to 2.3 million, while the Christmas special

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drew 2.6 million. Netflix ultimately decided against another season. The

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streamer also ended its partnership with Megan's As Ever Consumer

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Products business in March. Megan's company is now handling the

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products itself. Then there is Spotify. Harry and Megan signed

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what the Times describes as a $ 20 million deal in 2020. Ultimately,

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Megan produced one 12-episode season of Archetypes. Harry produced no

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series at all. One previously reported detail stands out. According

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to someone close to the couple quoted by the Times,

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one of Harry's ideas during the development process involved travelling

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around the country taste-testing hot chocolate. After the Spotify relationship ended,

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United Talent Agency executive Jeremy Zimmer offered a particularly harsh

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assessment of Meghan's transition into audio. Zimmer said, Turns out

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Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent or necessarily

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any kind of talent. And you know, just because you're

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famous doesn't make you great at something. Leo Brody, a

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Los Angeles cultural historian and author of The Frenzy of Renown,

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Fame and Its History, told the Times, There has always

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been this aura here, this magical thinking. Everybody thinks I'm beautiful,

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I'm handsome. Everybody thinks if those people can make it

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in Hollywood, so can I. If there was an easy

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path to success in show business, there would be a

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lot fewer flops in Hollywood. In the Daily Mail, Alison

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Boshoff reported on a source who is said to have

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known details of the Netflix deal. They said from speaking

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to someone with knowledge of the deal, it looks like

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they've probably managed to maybe keep $ 10 to $ 15 million

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or a touch more purely for themselves over the nearly

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five years. Not bad business, but that kind of money

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doesn't last long with their lifestyle. Netflix paid for the

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production of the tell-all hit documentary series Harry and Meghan

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in 2022, which would have included a big fee for them.

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I guess the money Netflix spent on it works out

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at $ 20 million all in. In the Daily Mail, Andrew

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Lowney asks, The question is no longer how the monarchy

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deals with its wayward family members, but whether it can

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survive being beset by so many of them. This is

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now a crisis unprecedented in the modern history of the

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royal family, stretching back to its reinvention almost 200 years

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ago by Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert. One

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way to establish which of them presents the greatest threat

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is to ask, which is the most to gain from

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the current chaos? And the answer to that is self-evident.

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It is the Sussexes. Harry's return may be occasioned by

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a desire to be closer to a father who may

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not have long to live, but it may also be

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opportunistic to get his feet under the royal table while

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his father is in power and before his brother removes

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the titles and those of his children, Archie and Lilibet.

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If the Sussex brand is to grow, it is imperative

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that Archie and Lilibet remain a prince and princess. The

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monetary value of those titles is incalculable. It might be

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argued that even if the future King William V were

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to banish them, the children would continue to insist on

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their royal handles, but the titles would be devalued. Just

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as the demoted princes and princesses of Russia and Eastern Europe,

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from whose ranks Prince Philip came, were regarded as second-class royalty,

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Archie and Lilibet would never enjoy the glamour that is

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the birthright of their cousins, Princess George and Louis and

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Princess Charlotte. That would be gall and wormwood to the

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Duke and Duchess, assuming they still were a Duke and Duchess.

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They have evidently realised this and decided that they need

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to return to the fold. For the next few months,

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at least, all the talk will be of Harry and Meghan.

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No one will be looking at the other royal miscreants,

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unless Andrew becomes the focus of more revelations about Epstein,

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or his former role as the UK's special representative for

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international trade and investment. But if the assorted villains of

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the family, some less petty than others, are glad of

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the distraction, the Prince of Wales has been confronted with

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an unenviable and unexpected dilemma. William detests his brother so

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deeply that it is said he refuses to have Harry's

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name spoken in his presence. Yet how will he be

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able to strip the Sussexes of all their baubles when

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he becomes king if their father has publicly forgiven them?

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Meghan will have more difficulty in winning over the public,

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many of whom retain an affection for her husband despite

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his actions over the past five years. Last month's poll

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showed around 22% of respondents viewed her favourably. But the

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couple have a formidable PR machine and must hope that

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Attitudes within the family and country will eventually change, perhaps

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helped by a wave of sympathy with the 30th anniversary

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of Princess Diana's death next August. More palace in just

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a moment. Angela Levin, who has written the biography of

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Queen Camilla, says Harry and Meghan's return to Britain could

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create a particularly difficult challenge for the Queen. Camilla has

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spent decades learning how to handle difficult periods inside the

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royal family, but Harry remains a uniquely complicated part of

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the history. She recalls that when Camilla married Charles in 2005,

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she was so worried about the public reaction that she

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initially did not want to get out of bed on

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the morning of the wedding. According to Levin, Camilla feared

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crowds might jeer or even throw rotten fruit before her sister.

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Annabelle Elliot persuaded her to face the day. Levin believes

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the experience helped establish Camilla's approach to royal life, keep going,

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avoid public confrontation. and support Charles. She says Camilla also

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tried to help Meghan when she joined the family in 2018.

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According to a friend of Camilla quoted by Levin, the

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Queen invited Meghan to private lunches and offered advice about

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handling the pressures of royal life, but Meghan was not

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particularly receptive. The relationship with Harry became much more difficult

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after the Sussexes left royal duties. Levin points to Harry's

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comments about Camilla while promoting Spare. In his interview with

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60 Minutes, Harry described her as dangerous because of her

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relationship with the press and called her a villain. Harry

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also said, Levin says those comments were deeply hurtful given

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Camilla's years of royal service. She also makes a new

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claim about Harry and Meghan's meeting with Charles at Highgrove

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in July. According to Levin, Camilla insisted on attending the

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meeting despite what she describes as Harry and Meghan's displeasure

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about her presence. She believes Camilla will now follow much

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the same approach the late queen often used during family disputes,

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avoid responding publicly and continue with the job. Levin writes

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that Camilla and Charles will likely swallow whatever comes their way,

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relying on their relationship and their commitment to royal duty.

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And there you have it. If you're on Spotify, please

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bucks a month. We appreciate the support. I'm Mark Francis.

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My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and

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good times.

Is Meghan Markle’s UK Return Only a Six-Month Trial, and Did the Sussexes’ Hollywood Dream Fail?

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