When Harry and Meghan met Hollywood
The princess exists as a romantic concept in Hollywood and a controversial one in reality. What do you get when the two worlds collide? Meghan Markle and a field day for newspaper headlines.
Harry and Meghan are in the news again this week for their lucrative new Spotify deal which promises a series of podcast episodes offering unique and empathetic stories from around the world. “One of the things my husband and I have always talked about is our passion for meeting people and hearing their stories,” says Meghan in the trailer. Spotify has not revealed the contract worth, but estimates put it at anywhere between £20million and £30million.
The multi-year partnership is with Archewell Audio, an audio production company created by Meghan and Harry as part of their charitable foundation Archewell. A foundation which is, presumably, named after their son; Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
Many have balked over the cliché and cringiness of naming a multi-million-pound brand deal after your first-born child, but in doing so are forgetting which realm of princess Meghan truly belongs to.
Meghan comes from a world where babies have their names trademarked before they are even christened. In Hollywood, every new child promises more money and fame; just look at the Kardashian-Jenner clan. In fact, I would go as far to say it is probably more shocking NOT to capitalise on a famous child’s name (or should I say brand?).
Just look at the examples; Beyoncé has a gym-range named Ivy Park after her daughter, Kylie Jenner trademarked her daughter Stormi’s name before she was even born (look out for her line of dark and Stormi cocktails in a can coming summer 2035); every Beckham child’s name is trademarked, and Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis went as far as buying every domain, social media account and email address under their two children’s names.
The Spotify partnership comes just weeks after The Sussex’s secured a Netflix deal to create documentaries, feature films, scripted television shows, and children’s programmes for the streaming service. These brand deals come at odds with the couple’s January decision to step back from Royal duties and the limelight but listening to the audio trailer for the Archewell Audio series you can tell this is Meghan in her element. She teases Harry that he should introduce the series as it sounds better in his accent, then fully takes the lead. Let’s not forget that acting is a career, and this was a woman who was on her way to the top before she met Harry.
Acting is out of the question since she won the permanent role of princess, so this is as close to her old life as she is going to get. Though she has toned down her makeup so that her eyeshadow matches the flowers in the background of her latest video (to apparently appease Royal tradition), her Hollywood roots are anything but far behind her. The couple might not want the strict parameters of the Royal title, but they are clearly revelling in being Hollywood’s new royals.