Meghan and Harry to launch new Netflix shows

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to launch two new Netflix shows on cooking, gardening and polo as part of their ongoing $100 million deal with the streaming site. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have two non-fiction projects in the works, which come off the back of the launch of 42-year-old Meghan's new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard. 

Announcing the news on the Archewell website last night, the couple said Harry's series would focus on polo, from the US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida. 

It promises to 'provide viewers with unprecedented access to the world of professional polo.'

They add: 'Known primarily for its aesthetic and social scene, the series will pull the curtain back on the grit and passion of the sport, capturing players and all it takes to compete at the highest level.'

While the Duchess will focus on lifestyle-centric topics like gardening and cooking in a move that will likely allow her to cross-promote her brand, the Duke will delve into the world of professional polo, a sport that he has played since he was a child. 

The shows come as part of the deal brokered between the production arm of the couple's company, Archewell, and the streaming giant back in 2020, which was worth a reported $100 million. 

The first series will see Meghan 'celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship'.

The show is being produced by Sony Pictures Television’s The Intellectual Property Corporation, the company behind Hulu's The D’Amelio Show and A&E’s Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath.

The Duchess of Sussex is set to be an executive producer for Archewell, alongside Chanel Pysnik the company's head of non-fiction.

Meanwhile, the second series will focus on the glitzy world of polo, with the prince joining Meghan and Pysnik as an executive producer on the second project. 

The series will be produced by Boardwalk Pictures, who are also behind hit Netflix shows Chef’s Table, Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? and Sex, Love & Goop.

It was primarily shot during the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida, at The USPA National Polo Center. 

The show will go behind the scenes of the sport, exploring what it takes to compete at the highest level.

It is a topic that Harry is extremely well versed in, having been playing the sport since he was a child - with both his father King Charles and his brother Prince William also known to be firm fans of the game. 

The couple are huge polo fans, with Harry a regular at the Santa Barbara Polo Club with his team Los Padres and Meghan regularly showing up to cheer him on.

Harry has a long history with polo, having played the sport for most of his life.

In 2022, the prince joined polo team Los Padres, with it not uncommon to see the royal saddling up for a game, often with Meghan there to cheer him on.

In 2023, Harry attended a charity polo match in Singapore with his old friend Nacho Figueras, an Argentine polo professional and model, and longtime friend of the prince.

The pair were playing in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup to raise money for people living with HIV and AIDS.

The charity match takes place annually and raises significant amounts, raising over $13.8 million since 2010 to support Sentebale's work with children and young people affected by poverty, inequality and HIV/AIDS in southern Africa.

The Duke, who is a Co-Founding Patron of Sentebale, played on the Royal Salute Sentebale Team, against the Singapore Polo Club Team captained by Nacho - the charity's ambassador. 

The news of the Netflix series comes a month after the announcement of the Meghan's luxury lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.

An insider previously told the Dailymail.com that the brand is centered around Meghan's passions, and has reportedly been in the works for more than a year and is set to feature 'all the things that are close to her heart.'

The insider said the luxury brand is meant to coincide 'with the launch of a new cookery show for Netflix. Meghan will be making, and selling, products such as jams.

'And at some point there will be a book and blog etc.'

The brand will focus on home, garden, food and general lifestyle wares.

The brand is reportedly set to work as an extension of her former lifestyle blog The Tig, an insider told Page Six Style.

A source said: 'She's been working on this for over a year and it's all the things that are close to her heart — all the things she's passionate about.'

A video posted online announcing the brand starts with a washed-out video of a woman arranging white and pink pastel flowers.

It then fades to reveal Meghan cooking in a stunning kitchen, with copper pans hanging over her head as she whisks.

Insiders have previously claimed future projects for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will 'reflect their differing professional interests and talents and are the result of significant thought about their future direction and careers'.

A source claimed: 'They are both working on their own things. They are fully supportive of each other's concepts and ideas, but they are different from one another, they have different meanings.'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a five-year agreement with the California-based streaming giant in 2020 worth an estimated $100million (£80million).