Former friends of Prince Harry who played polo with him in their younger years have told the Daily Beast they have been left in “appalled hysterics” by the new trailer for his and Meghan Markle’s “tacky” new Netflix show about polo. One Hollywood executive has cautioned the couple are “running out of last chances” to prove they can make compelling TV that is not about themselves, and speculated their futures may lie in social media influencing.
The trailer for Polo dropped this week, and has been either ignored or ridiculed in global media, a clear sign that Harry and Meghan’s once-bright star appears to be fading.
Although their role as “executive producers” is flagged full screen in the opening credits, the cheesy trailer does not feature an appearance by either Harry or Meghan.
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Instead, the three minute clip features characters largely unknown outside the closeted world of the elite sport. In one particularly hammy moment, which seems designed to try and cash in on the narrative of royal discord, a young player says he will be playing against his father and says, “I want to win against my dad.”
One former friend of Harry’s who played polo with him as a teenager said, “It’s hilarious, but not in a good way. It’s so tacky and cringey, it is literally all the worst things about polo. I watched it in appalled hysterics.”
Another former friend said, “The irony is that polo is actually a surprisingly inclusive sport these days. You do see plenty of rich kids but there are also plenty of kids from less rarefied backgrounds who just happen to be fantastic riders who are sponsored by the teams. It doesn’t look like this show is going to foreground that, which is a real missed opportunity.”
A senior Hollywood executive told The Daily Beast: “This looks like it has failed to capture the imagination. They still have Meghan’s cooking show to screen next year but there is very little tolerance for pissing money away these days. It’s debatable whether anyone cares about these two if they are not serving up outrageous stories about the royals. They are running out of last chances to prove that isn’t so. If they can’t, they could try to monetize their fame on social media. Plenty of people would still give Harry a million bucks for a post.”
The trailer was ridiculed by the prominent Daily Mail columnist Liz Jones. Jones was for many years a Meghan sympathizer but has recently turned against the duchess.
In one particularly biting comment she opines: “What next? His own slot on the Shopping Channel? How can Harry and Meghan possibly travel the globe, preaching about poverty and diversity and inclusion, when not one black player can be spied… the funds required to run a polo team doubtless outstrip that of Formula 1. How can they lecture us about global warming when one player admits he flies to Argentina twice a week?”
Home comforts
King Charles’ new office at Buckingham Palace is in the same suite of rooms where he was born. The Sunday Times reports that Charles has moved his office to the Belgian Suite on the ground floor of Buckingham Palace’s Garden Wing. The suite of rooms includes the Orleans Room, where Charles was born on Nov. 14, 1948.
A friend of the King told the Times: “He is always aware of the significance of history, and the decision to be based in the Orleans Room won’t have been taken without half a smile. The King will enjoy the symmetry of discharging his duties as monarch in the room where he was born.”
The Times also reports that there will be no more state visits held at the Palace for the next three years due to its £369m ($462m) refurbishment.
The palace says Charles will fund the refurbishment of his private suite of rooms; the rest of the palace’s remodel will be paid for by the British taxpayer, with Charles allegedly “mindful that the public purse should not pay for personal touches.”
The Times says that Charles sees Buckingham Palace as “Monarchy HQ,” but that he and Queen Camilla are both “very comfortable” at Clarence House, which is nearby. “I know he is no fan of ‘the big house’, as he calls the palace,” a source told the paper. “He doesn’t see it as a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world.”
Another royal source told the paper: “It is certainly true that Camilla doesn’t want to live at Buckingham Palace.”
A friend of the king told the Times: “This is the gradual shifting of monarchy. There was a time when people said ‘if the [late] queen doesn’t live at Buckingham Palace, then what’s the point of Buckingham Palace?’ The king is mindful that it will continue to be monarchy HQ with the advantage that he can open it up and make it even more accessible to the public in the future—it’s win-win.”
Camilla’s lengthy convalescence
Queen Camilla’s decision to skip the Royal Variety Performance this week, palace sources told the Daily Beast, was due to a “lingering” chest infection. She appears to have been suffering with it since her return from the royal tour over three weeks ago. The decision to cancel won’t have been taken lightly by the palace, which is acutely aware of the optics of an ailing, elderly monarchy. King Charles is 76 and Camilla is 77.
Camilla personally, however, may not have been too upset at missing the famously middle-brow live show, which this year featured such luminaries as “Britain’s Got Talent” show winner Sydnie Christmas, with one friend telling us, “It’s not exactly her thing.”
Gladiator and king
Irishman Paul Mescal, asked at the premier of Gladiator II what it was like to meet the king, sighed and drily said: “I mean it’s definitely not something that I thought was on the bingo cards. I’m Irish, so it’s not on the list of priorities. But it’s an amazing thing for Ridley [Scott] because I know how important that is for him.”
The Irish Times has hailed Mescal an adroit diplomat for his measured response.
This week in royal history
On Nov. 26, 1992 the British Government announced that Queen Elizabeth II had volunteered to start paying taxes on her personal income.
Unanswered questions
Do Harry and Meghan have a future in Hollywood? When will Camilla feel well enough to return to duties?
