Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s biggest business flops since royal exit

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have launched many business ventures since stepping away from their royal duties in March 2020.

But while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have found some success since going at it alone without the royal family, they have also suffered their fair share of flops.

From losing a multimillion-dollar deal with Spotify in 2023 to reworking Meghan’s American Riviera Orchard brand in 2025, the renegade royal couple has experienced several setbacks and roadblocks.

Now, with the news that Netflix has cut all ties with Meghan’s polarizing As Ever lifestyle brand, the Sussexes must once again navigate their way forward following yet another business nonstarter.

Here are Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s biggest business flops since their royal exit.

“The Bench” – 2021

One of Meghan’s first business flops after she and Harry stepped down as senior royals was her children’s book, “The Bench,” which she published in June 2021.

The picture book, which explored the “special relationship between father and son as seen through a mother’s eyes,” began as a poem Meghan wrote for Harry on Father’s Day after the birth of their son, Archie, in May 2019.

“The Bench,” however, failed to crack the UK Official Top 50 chart during its debut week.

Although the book eventually ranked at No. 100 on the Amazon US bestsellers chart following a slow start, it reportedly stalled in the long term – after Meghan allegedly received a nearly $700,000 advance for the story.

Spotify – 2023

Three years after agreeing to a $20 million deal with Spotify via their Archwell Audio production company in December 2020, Harry and Meghan and the streaming giant “mutually agreed to part ways” in June 2023.

The surprising move came after it was revealed that the Sussexes’ podcast, “Archetypes,” wasn’t returning for a second season.

An insider told The Post at the time that Harry and Meghan, who only released 13 episodes of “Archetypes,” didn’t produce enough content to receive their full $20 million payout.

Spotify executive Bill Simmons went on to brand the duke and duchess “lazy” and “f–king grifters” after the lucrative deal fell apart.

The CEO of Spotify, meanwhile, later hinted that “Archetypes” had failed to make listeners “happy” during its 13-episode run.

“We thought new innovation was needed to happen here,” Daniel Ek told the BBC in October 2023 when asked why Spotify cut ties with Harry and Meghan.

He added, “We thought we can come in and offer a great experience that both makes consumers very happy and allows new creators new avenues.”

Although Ek acknowledged that “some of it has worked,” he admitted that “some of it hasn’t.”

“We’re learning from those, and we are moving on,” he said.

Meghan landed a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media in February 2024, eight months after parting ways with Spotify.

American Riviera Orchard, As Ever and ‘Runny’ Jam – 2025

Meghan was forced to rework the name of her original lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, to As Ever in February 2025 in the wake of several trademark setbacks.

Although she secured the As Ever name in 2022, the “Suits” alum didn’t announce the change until two weeks before her “With Love, Meghan” Netflix show launched that March.

But Meghan continued to face snags even after announcing the name change, because she allegedly failed to sign the trademark application documents before submitting them to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Additional documents obtained by The Post at the time also showed that the Trademark Office sent certain docs back because Meghan didn’t make clear what she meant by “various items” like “spoons, serving jams and fruit preserves.”

The Trademark Office also rejected Meghan’s bid to sell clothing like aprons under the newly-named company because there was already a Chinese clothing company using the name ASEVER.

A politician in Spain spoke out in February 2025, claiming Meghan’s As Ever logo was too similar to the coat of arms of a small Mallorcan village called Porreres.

But Meghan’s As Ever products, which include a curated collection of home, kitchen and gourmet food items, were criticized even after she got her various trademark issues squared away.

Jam expert Donna Collins trashed Meghan’s “runny” apricot spread after it was released in June 2025.

“It’s a real disappointment that Meghan is selling a fruit spread, which is what you make when your jam fails,” Collins charged at the time.

“In the jam industry a spread is what we call something that didn’t work,” she continued. “It can have the best ingredients, but if I had a jam that was too runny, I’d slap a label on it and call it a spread. There’s no excuse for this. It should be perfect.”

“With Love, Meghan” Season 2 – 2025

The second season of Meghan’s lifestyle Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan,” failed to make the streamer’s Top 10 list upon its release on Aug. 26, 2025.

Although Season 1 of the series performed well when it premiered in March 2025, Season 2 reportedly garnered 500,000 fewer viewers.

But not only did Season 2 of “With Love, Meghan” flop, it was also trashed by critics.

Lucy Mangan of the Guardian called the show “boring,” “painfully contrived” and “so effortfully whimsical” that it “does become almost fascinating.”

The Times described Meghan as “a woman in need of some cash” after watching the second season.

“With Love, Meghan” was part of the $100 million Netflix deal that the Sussexes landed with the streamer in 2020.

However, an insider told Page Six in January 2026 that the lifestyle show was “not returning as a series.”

They added, “There have been conversations about holiday specials, but there’s nothing in the works yet.”

Archewell Philanthropies – 2025

Harry and Meghan “essentially shuttered” their Archewell Philanthropies charity in December 2025 after several key staffers abruptly left the not-for-profit organization.

James Holt, who served as chief of the charity, stepped down that December following a slew of other senior staffers like Genevieve Roth, Christine Schirmer, Ashley Hansen and publicist Meredith Maines.

“Anyone still there is simply an enabler, enamored with what the couple once was, not who they are today,” an insider familiar with the Sussexes told Page Six at the time. “From a year ago, they have decreased their staff by at least 80-85 percent.”

Harry and Meghan had engaged in cost-cutting talks earlier in December, and one insider suggested that the Sussexes discussed the possibility of selling the charity off amid its money troubles.

“The big question was, would Archewell close, or would another charity take it over?” the source told us. “Harry and Meghan were looking to get a fiscal sponsor, someone to take on the outgoing costs and to keep things cheap.”

They added, “Really, it’s all smoke and mirrors.”

The charity, which was originally named Archewell Foundation before changing to Archewell Philanthropies in December, reportedly spent $5.1 million on expenses in 2024 despite only bringing in $2.1 million in donations.

Netflix Projects in Limbo – 2026

In March 2026, just days before it was announced that Netflix had cut ties with Meghan’s As Ever brand, it was said that nearly all of the Sussexes’ Netflix projects were stuck in limbo.

Harry and Meghan announced in August 2023 that their Archewell Productions company planned to produce a movie adaptation of Carley Fortune’s book “Meet Me at the Lake,” and Netflix even paid around $3 million for the rights to the novel.

However, three years later, the project was still in development and lacked both a director and a cast.

“Three years in development for a movie like this at Netflix isn’t good,” a Hollywood source told us.

Another project, an adaptation of Jasmine Guillory’s romantic novel “The Wedding Date,” was also said to have gotten stuck in development hell at Netflix.

Harry and Meghan’s documentary “Cookie Queen,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026, was not bought by a distributor or streamer even though the pair offered it to Netflix.

Netflix and As Ever – 2026

Netflix officially cut ties with Meghan’s As Ever lifestyle brand on March 6, 2026, just days after it was reported “With Love, Meghan” wouldn’t be returning for a third season.

“Her show did not go on so it did not make sense to continue the partnership,” an insider told Page Six at the time.

However, a spokesperson for the streaming giant claimed that it was “always intended” for Meghan to take As Ever “into its next chapter” without Netflix.

“As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently, and we look forward to celebrating how she continues to bring joy to households around the world,” they said.

An As Ever spokesperson, meanwhile, told Page Six that the lifestyle brand was “grateful for Netflix’s partnership through launch and our first year.”

The spokesperson added, “We have experienced meaningful and rapid growth and As Ever is now ready to stand on its own. We have an exciting year ahead and can’t wait to share more.”