In Montecito …
Netflix is not pleased
Yes, them again. It was another not-very-good week for the Sussexes, as the self-styled pitch-perfect couple continued their transfixing run-up to the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. They shut down their charitable organization, MWX Foundation (formerly Sussex Royal until the Queen nixed the “royal”), and according to Richard Eden in the Daily Mail “the final liquidation report revealed that costs of £130,583 [$160,000] were incurred on winding it up. “Netflix, with whom they are said to have a $100 million deal, is reportedly annoyed because Prince Harry talked to NBC last month about his meeting with the Queen—the “I’m just making sure she’s protected” interview—even though a Netflix documentary-film crew was already following him around. And then there was also the couple’s post-Netflix-deal interview with Oprah Winfrey last year. On CBS. And Netflix recently dropped Pearl, the Duchess’s planned animation project, after which she removed all references to it from the couple’s Archewell Productions Web site.
Because Netflix is losing subscribers, and its stock has slid almost 70 percent this year, the assumption is that the streaming service is hoping to make the most of the Jubilee, which the Sussexes will attend. But the Daily Mail reports that “Buckingham Palace staff are making plans to block Harry and Meghan’s Netflix cameras”—if necessary. “A well-placed source told the Sun: ‘Even if they accept that their Netflix crew can’t go into Buckingham Palace to film, they could cause problems — and at the very least cause a major distraction’,” according to the Daily Mail. “‘So a team of Palace aides will be on standby to keep a very close eye on the crew, and act as minders if need be.’” The celebratory mood is palpable, no?
