Netflix must’ve thought it had stumbled upon an endless gold mine when it struck a deal with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle earlier this decade. Especially after it immediately spawned the duo’s eye-opening docuseries, which resulted in controversy — and therefore views — across the globe. Unfortunately, almost two years on from the release of Harry & Meghan in December 2022, that mine has uncovered nothing but coal.
Although fans, and probably Netflix, expected the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to follow up their immensely expensive streaming deal — estimated to have cost $100 million — with more tell-all series spilling all the Royal tea, the couple have followed up their original show with much softer serves. Last year brought us sports series Heart of Invictus and Live to Lead, about inspirational world leaders, but it seems it’s Harry’s upcoming show that’s really left Netflix at the end of its rope.
Netflix seriously ‘unhappy’ after Harry’s latest streaming series turns into “The Nacho Show”
This December, a real passion project of Harry’s comes to Netflix — POLO, a docuseries celebrating the high-society sport. Unfortunately, it’s been confirmed that the duke himself hardly features in the show, with the majority of screentime instead going to polo superstar Nachos Figueras. The Argentinian sportsman is known to be a close family friend of the Sussexes.
While it’s nice for Harry to boost his good pal’s profile like this, the way the show has shaped up has reportedly left Netflix bosses fuming. As per what a source told the Daily Mail, the series is being referred to internally as “The Nacho Show,” and the streamer does not have high hopes that it’s going to be another Harry & Meghan-sized hit.
“Any reasonable person tuning into a show about polo made by Prince Harry would expect Harry to take a starring role. That he’s not is hugely disappointing for Netflix,” claimed the source. “Let’s face it, polo isn’t exactly a mainstream sport so the attraction would have been watching Harry. Without him, it’s marginal at best.”
According to this source, POLO is something of a final straw for the streamer as Netflix is feeling like it hasn’t reaped the rewards it thought it would when the pricey deal with Harry and Meghan launched.
“What Netflix have received in return doesn’t look great. People want personal stuff. Apart from their documentary series, which had the drama of them quitting the Royal Family, everything else they’ve produced has been underwhelming.”
With the deal in question only having a few months left to go, unless the Sussexes can turn things around quickly it’s possible the company won’t be looking to renew its contract with the couple. “The Netflix deal expires next year, so the Sussexes need a big hit,” the source continued, before describing POLO in colorful terms. “This sounds like a big nothing burger.”
Following “The Nacho Show,” the duo has one more series ready to go — Meghan’s cooking show, which has been confirmed to avoid featuring either Prince Archie or Princess Lilibet, at Harry’s insistence. These days, Harry seems much less eager to dish out the dirt on his family so it’s likely the Harry & Meghan sequel that Netflix would love to get made, and subscribers would love to watch, won’t be heading to screens before this patchy partnership ends.
