Harry and Meghan’s TV empire: How Sussexes bought the £3m film rights to romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake – before new Netflix series on polo and cooking

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle expanded their TV empire this week by announcing two new non-fiction Netflix shows – on top of a commitment to a £3m film adaptation of a romantic novel.

The new series, which is part of the couple’s ongoing £80m deal with Netflix, will see the Duke of Sussex delve into the world of professional polo, a sport that he has played since he was a child.

Meanwhile the Duchess will focus on lifestyle-centric topics like gardening and cooking in a move that will likely allow her to cross-promote her new brand American Riviera Orchard.

An announcement on the Archewell website earlier this week said Harry’s show will cover the US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida, and ‘provide viewers with unprecedented access to the world of professional polo’.

But it comes less than a year after the couple revealed plans to produce a film adaptation of Carley Fortune’s Meet Me At The Lake, which echoes their personal story and includes a character whose parent dies in a car crash.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to launch two new non-fiction Netflix shows 

The move comes despite committing to a £3million film adaptation of romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake 

The new series, which is part of the couple’s ongoing $100million deal with Netflix, will see the pair explore gardening and cooking, as well as polo 

Sources previously described the book as ‘right up their alley’ because they ‘love love stories and rom-coms’. 

The Sussexes famously wanted to tell their own ‘love story’ in their bombshell 2022 Netflix documentary ‘Harry & Meghan.’

But royal expert Phil Dampier told MailOnline the couple should ‘focus on one thing’ having committed to a series of projects. 

He said: ‘I’m all in favour of them doing things that aren’t making money out of slagging off the royal family or criticising the royal family. 

‘So that’s a good sign. That’s a step in the right direction but they seem to be a bit confused at the moment, trying to maybe do too many things and I’m not sure that there’s any guarantee that any of them will work. 

‘They might be better to focus on one thing and try and get it off the ground.

‘I think they’re desperate for money and they don’t want to lose their Netflix contracts because that has been a money spinner for them. 

‘If they lost that completely, then they’ve got all their bills to pay in terms of security, and a luxurious house and first class travel everywhere so they need to pay the bills, they need to get some money, and they’ve probably exhausted the money they can make out of criticising the royal family.’

The second series will focus on the glitzy world of polo, with the prince (pictured, with Prince William) joining Meghan and Pysnik as an executive producer on the second project 

Last month it emerged that the Royal Family would be put in a ‘difficult position’ if Prince Harry’s Invictus Games returns to the UK for the first time since he and Meghan moved to the US (pictured: the couple at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf in 2023) 

Senior royals would need to take a stand on if they support the event, which they did at the first games in 2014 (pictured) when then-Prince Charles, Camilla, and Prince William appeared alongside Harry for the opening ceremony 

The first series of the new show 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.

But Dampier does not believe that the new series could turn the tide on Harry and Meghan’s dwindling popularity in the US.

‘Certainly their popularity in America has now gone down because they’ve overdone [criticising the Royal Family] and so they’ve got to find fresh avenues,’ he said. 

‘At the moment they’re trying several different things but how many of them will be successful is debatable. 

‘The reaction of quite a few people on social media yesterday was sort of one big yawn. 

‘I’m not sure that that many are interested in what Harry has to say about polo. It’s a fairly elite sport. 

‘He’s played a lot of polo but that doesn’t necessarily make him an expert on telling other people how to play and most people can’t afford to play it. So it’s a very niche market. 

‘And is Megan a particularly good cook or chef, or expert on food? Only time will tell.

‘Megan did a cookbook with the Grenfell Tower survivors and that was thought to be very altruistic and a good thing that was raising money for charity but quite what qualifications she’s got for a more serious cooking program, I don’t know. 

‘But I would have thought having launched the American Orchard, she’d be concentrating on that more.

‘Obviously they are trying to bring in as many different projects to get as much money in as they can.’ 

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 

The new shows and the film adaptation of Carley Fortune’s The Meet Me At The Lake are both part of an £80million deal with Netflix (pictured: Fortune with the book cover) 

Last month it emerged that the Royal Family would be put in a ‘difficult position’ if Prince Harry’s Invictus Games returns to the UK for the first time since he and Meghan moved to the US.

Senior royals would need to take a stand on if they support the event, which they did at the first games in 2014 when then-Prince Charles, Camilla, and Prince William appeared alongside Harry for the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Sussex said he would not feel comfortable bringing his wife and their children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, to Britain if he was unable to appeal a recent ruling which downgraded his taxpayer-funded personal security when he visits Britain.