The Duke and Duchess of SusđâŻđ’s Archewell Productions has new nonfiction series in production about subjects close to their hearts
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games on Sept. 13, 2023
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s latest Netflix projects are in the works.
On April 11, the Duke and Duchess of SusđâŻđ’s Archewell Productions revealed two new nonfiction series are in the “early stages” of production at Netflix. Deadline was first to report the news.
A series curated by Meghan, who is also serving as an executive producer, will “celebrate the joys of cooking and gardening, entertaining and friendship.” The series will be directed by Michael Steed, who worked on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, while the showrunner is Leah Hariton, who was a producer on Selena Gomez’s Selena + Chef cooking show on HBO.
The Duchess of SusđâŻđ, 42, has a well-documented love of cooking, from brining turkey for Thanksgiving on her now-defunct Instagram to collaborating with the Hubb Community Kitchen on a fundraising cookbook as one of her first projects as a member of the royal family.
The other series will “provide viewers unprecedented access to the world of professional polo,” a sport that Prince Harry, 39, has played for decades. He often plays in charity matches, including a flagship fundraiser for Sentebale, the charity Harry co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006 to help children and young people affected by poverty, inequality and HIV/AIDS in southern Africa.
“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,” according to a statement.
The Duke and Duchess of SusđâŻđ are both serving as executive producers on the project, primarily at the US Open Polo Championship in Florida, while MiloĆĄ BalaÄ (Welcome to Wrexham) is the showrunner.
Titles and release dates for the two shows are expected to be announced in the coming months.
Archewell Prodcutions
Archewell Productions
Related: Meghan Markle Returns to Instagram! The Duchess of SusđâŻđ Launches Surprise New Venture
Netflixâs Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said at the Next on Netflix event in February that Meghan and Prince Harry had several projects in development.
“They have a couple of unscripted things they’re working on with Brandon [Reigg],” Bajaria said, according to Hello! magazine. “And they actually have like a bunch of development. They have a movie in development, a [scripted] series that they’re working on. So all very early development, with a movie, a TV show and a couple of unscripted shows. But yeah, the movie’s great.”
The Duke and Duchess of SusđâŻđ signed a multiyear deal with Netflix (where Suits, which Meghan acted in for years before marrying Harry, surged over the summer) after stepping back from their royal roles and relocating to her home state of California in 2020. The New York Times reported that the couple’s production hub, later named Archewell Productions, would exclusively create documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and children’s programming for the platform.
The couple’s projects for the streamer so far have included the intimate docuseries Harry & Meghan in December 2022, which made a splash as Netflixâs biggest documentary debut ever, the series Live to Lead about changemakers including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem, which also debuted in December 2022, and the docuseries Heart of Invictus about athletes preparing for Prince Harryâs Invictus Games at The Hague, released in August 2023.
Andrew Chin/Getty
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend Invictus Games countdown event on Feb. 14, 2024
In August, author Carley Fortune also confirmed to The Independent that the Duke and Duchess of SusđâŻđâs Archewell Productions hub would be adapting her romance novel Meet Me at the Lake for Netflix.
âIâm so thrilled about working with Netflix and Archewell to bring Meet Me at the Lake to the screen,â she said in a statement. âWill and Fernâs love story is dear to my heart, and I canât imagine a more perfect partnership.”
The latest update comes after Meghan shouted out Bajaria at the SXSW Conference in Austin on March 8. During the keynote panel “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen,” the Duchess of SusđâŻđ praised Bajaria as a woman working to improve diversity and representation in the entertainment space “so we can all feel more seen.”
Their Netflix news also comes after Meghan introduced her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard. On March 14, an Instagram account and website went live for the venture, which marked the Duchess of SusđâŻđâs return to social media after she and Prince Harry stopped using their @SusđâŻđRoyal Instagram page in 2020. The websiteâs landing page read “American Riviera Orchard Montecito” in gold script below a matching monogram, and the Instagram grid mirrored the same logo. The lifestyle brand will officially launch later this spring, PEOPLE understands.
American Riviera Orchard
Meghan Markle’s American Riviera Orchard logo, revealed on March 14, 2024.
Related:Â What Will Meghan Markle’s New Brand Sell? Inside the Trademark for American Riviera Orchard
The brand name was seemingly inspired by the California coast that the Duke and Duchess of SusđâŻđ call home with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. According to Travel & Leisure, Santa Barbara has been nicknamed the “American Riviera” for over a century “because of its temperate climate and lush landscapes, as well as its robust food and wine culture.”
The Duchess of SusđâŻđ appeared in the social accountâs first Instagram Stories on launch day, where she arranged flowers, mixed in a kitchen and wore a billowing black gown to the tune of “I Wish You Love” by Nancy Wilson. The montage was reminiscent of her lifestyle blog The Tig, which she shuttered in 2017 during her courtship with Prince Harry.
American Riviera Orchard/Instagram
Meghan Markle appears in a video for American Riviera Orchard on Instagram posted on March 14, 2024.
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In a hint of what might come, a trademark application revealed that American Riviera Orchard sought to sell tableware, cookbooks and edible spreads like jellies, jams and nut butters, with approval for retail store services.
Before she met and married Prince Harry, Meghan embraced her passion for taste making on her now-defunct blog The Tig. The site was named after her favorite wine, Tiganello, and dedicated to food, travel, style and adventures she found inspiring, plus personal reflections.
âWhat began as a passion project (my little engine that could) evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity. You’ve made my days brighter and filled this experience with so much joy. Keep finding those Tig moments of discovery, keep laughing and taking risks, and keep being âthe change you wish to see in the world,’ ” Meghan wrote in a farewell post when she shuttered the site in 2017.
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