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Earning their keep
One of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s first projects as part of their Netflix deal could be a film about Harry’s mom, Princess Diana. The Sunday Mirror reports that the couple are in talks to make a documentary about Diana’s life and the legacy of her work, as one of their first projects for their reported $100 million deal.
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Oh, and they probably shouldn’t start spending the $100 million yet. As this fascinating interview with former Netflix staffers in the Telegraph this week made clear, the couple will still have to actually get something commissioned by Netflix before “the real money” arrives. While that could, one day, add up to $100 million, a lot would have to go really right for the couple over the next few years—not least, people really liking them and being transfixed by their shows.
That looks an unlikely prospect in at least one territory: the U.K., where 64 percent of respondents to a British YouGov survey said they were “not interested at all” in watching shows produced by the couple. A further 20 percent were “not very interested,” while only 3 percent were “very interested” and nine per cent described themselves as “fairly interested.”
The deal is actually akin to a “retainer to ensure first-look exclusivity over any content the couple come up with,” the Telegraph says, and the couple may also simply find Netflix tacking their name on to existing documentaries as they did with the Obamas and the documentary American Factory. The Obamas came on board after seeing the completed film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019, lending their endorsement to a pre-existing work.
“Netflix can buy them some documentaries, have them sit around chatting on camera for an afternoon and make efficient use of their time,” the source said.
The couple have said that their output will encompass documentaries, films, and children’s programs and that they intend their shows to “unlock action” and “give hope.” We assume this is Meghan code for, “I won’t be playing myself on The Crown.”
Queen wasn’t told about Netflix deal
How not to impress granny, part 45: the Sun reports that Prince Harry “did not inform the queen” about the aforementioned deal he and wife Meghan Markle struck with Netflix. H.M. was informed about the situation by her aides.
The queen, presently at Balmoral in Scotland overseeing the shooting of grouse and visits from family members, was apparently not delighted: “Her Majesty is all too aware of the pitfalls of when senior royals embark on lucrative projects—Prince Edward’s production flop and some of the deals Sarah Ferguson has signed over the years to name a few. Her view is simple, the royals are not for sale and danger surrounds high-profile roles outside of the institution itself. But knowing her grandson Harry as she does, the queen will know there would have been little chance of talking Harry and Meghan out of it.”
The huge amount of cash Harry and Meghan are reported to be making off the deal (although, for a dose of reality, see the qualifications mentioned above) has led to another chorus of demands back home that they pay back in full the £2.4 million (around $3.2 million) of public money they spent on refurbishing Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
The Mirror reported the palace would be “scrutinizing” the Netflix deal. A source told the paper: “Harry and Meghan did leave as working members of the family with everyone’s best wishes and it is sincerely hoped they find the happiness that appeared to be lacking in their lives.
“However, it goes without saying any deals they are making will be scrutinized by the royal household. Under the terms of their deal to forgo their royal duties, they agreed any commercial deals would be subject to discussion. This deal with Netflix, any speaking engagements or other corporate work are examples.
“Both the royal family and senior courtiers will be aware of how this looks to the public, especially as the couple have not yet paid back the £2.4 million they promised to refund to the taxpayer for Frogmore Cottage, which will be their UK base.”
What this “scrutiny” will involve and what its conclusion would be is anyone’s guess. But one fairly obvious question is: Would anyone else without any experience of producing television and movies be able to magic up a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix? Or did Harry and Meghan secure the deal because they are the globally known former royals the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? Let’s all just mull that difficult question for a moment.
Body found in palace pond
Police have still yet to formally identify a body found in the Round Pond at Kensington Gardens in front of Kensington Palace, Kate and William’s home in London.
“The death is being treated as unexplained at this time, but is not thought to be suspicious. Inquiries are ongoing,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said, quoted in The Independent. The cops, said the Independent, had initially misidentified the body—telling the family of Endellion Lycett Green, granddaughter of former poet laureate Sir John Betjeman, that the body was hers. It was not.
“My sister Endellion is alive, safe and well,” John Lycett Green, her brother, said in a message to friends. “Thank you all for the support and love you showed for Delli and her family. Sorry to all of you that, like us, were grieving for the wonder that is Delli. We were told a body was found and was her. It was not, and Delli was found last night. RIP the soul that was found in Kensington Round Pond on Saturday morning.”
Meghan’s alleged bunion surgery
Meghan Markle may have had a foot operation, a surgeon tells the Sun. After kicking off her Manolo Blahniks during a royal trip in 2018, the Sun says a small faded scar could be seen on the inside of her left foot.
“Meghan’s scar is 100% due to open bunion surgery,” consultant trauma and orthopedic surgeon for BMI Shirley Oaks hospital, Kumar Kunasingam, said.
“While the scar is only 4-5 centimeters long, this type of surgery can be very painful and it can take up to three months before patients can wear heels again.”
The speculation is that she had surgery in 2014. Wearing tight, narrow shoes can cause bunions or make them worse, but they can also develop naturally as a result of the shape of your foot or a medical condition, such as arthritis.
Philip’s despair at Harry’s move
It wouldn’t take a psychic to guess that duty-first Prince Philip would not have been impressed by Meghan and Harry’s royal departure last year. Author Ingrid Seward, the long time editor of Majesty magazine, confirms these suspicions today writing in the Mail on Sunday that Philip believed the Sussexes had “everything going for them,” and that their departure was a “dereliction of duty.”
Out on the moor
Prince George went out on the grouse moor with dad William and mom Kate at Balmoral last weekend. The royal shooting party were out blasting the birdies at Corgarff, near Balmoral. Kate and William visited the queen at the Scottish castle for several days last week, the Mail reported.
Also on the shoot: Princess Anne, her husband, and her son Peter Phillips, as well as Prince Edward and his son. The queen reportedly owns 2,940 hectares of private grouse moor at Corgarff and 4,688 hectares of sporting rights rented from a neighbor.
This week in royal history
The funeral of Princess Diana took place 23 years ago on Sept. 6, 1997 at Westminster Abbey, London. Her sons, brother, ex-husband, and Prince Philip followed her coffin (Harry much later revealing just how traumatic that was as a young kid), and Elton John sang “Candle in the Wind.”
When Diana’s brother Charles Spencer told the world the Spencers would take an active role in the upbringing of Harry and William, and castigated the royal family, there was loud applause, reflecting both love of Diana and deep public anger at the royal family at the time.
Spencer said: “I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned.”
There were crowds, applause, tears, and flowers thrown on to the funeral limousine carrying Diana’s coffin out of London to its final resting place of Althorp House, Northamptonshire.
Last Monday, Aug. 31, on the 23rd anniversary of Diana’s death, Charles Spencer tweeted a picture of the family flag at half-mast, with the message: “My first family duty on August 31. Never forgotten.”
Unanswered questions
Could Meghan’s Netflix deal one day land her an Oscar? If so it would be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream: the Mail on Sunday quotes a friend as saying; “An Oscar is all Meg has ever wanted. She used to practice her acceptance speech in the mirror with a hairbrush when she was a kid of seven.”
