During yet another dramatic week for the British royal family, UK media reports that WME has been holding crisis talks with its high-profile clients Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Despite Harry’s victory in the UK’s High Court on Friday – where he won a $180,000 payout in damages for having his phone hacked by Mirror Group Newspapers – the week has been chequered with reports that a string of failed projects and brand partnerships have left the couple complaining of a vendetta being waged against them.
The UK’s Express newspaper quotes one insider telling them that, despite the success of the sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the huge figures for their at-home Netflix documentary series in December 2022 and the record-breaking sales of Harry’s memoir Spare earlier this year, “There have been talks held with high profile brands that didn’t lead to anything but should have done. Those brands then actively courted other members of the family.”
The insider adds: “Both Harry and Meghan often wore Dior and were at one point huge fans of the brand,” the source said. “Harry wore a [Dior] suit to the Coronation and the Sussexes were starting to build up their partnership with the fashion house.
“Then the focus shifted towards Camilla and other members of the family. To add salt to the wounds, the actress playing Kate Middleton [in The Crown‘s final series on Netflix] was announced as the new face of the brand. It was all very suspicious timing.”
Markle has been with WME since April 2023, but no new projects have materialized thus far. Instead, the couple’s $20m contract with Spotify has been ended, with exec Bill Simmons quoted calling them “grifters,” and Markle’s pet doc project Pearl has been cancelled by Netflix. The Express’s source added: “The team doesn’t appear to know what to do at this point. The consensus now is to try and repair the damage done to the Royal Family and hope that link will help them out of the doldrums.”
Caroline Frost
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