Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex: Saint or sinner? Grievously wronged son or petulant man-child having a protracted tanty? Palace whistleblower or modern-day turncoat?
To write in regards to the 38-year-old immediately is to consistently wrestle with the contradictions and the complexities of a person who did the unthinkable, strolling away from the royal household and straight into the ready arms of company America.
Except that, thus far, the Megxit fairytale has not resulted in something like an out and out happily-ever-after.
For years now, the duke and duchess have been testing the world’s persistence with their veritable Niagara Falls of hurts.
Today, the query that’s more durable and more durable to disregard is, has it paid off for them – or their paymasters?
The auguries will not be good.
On Wednesday, veteran royal biographer Tom Bower appeared on UK TV and alleged that “Spotify have cancelled their contract”.
Now, let’s be clear right here – this has not been confirmed, nor has this purported ‘cancelling’ been reported by, say, the Times or the Telegraph.
But, if Spotify was trying to rejig their association with the Sussexes, it might come as about as a lot of a shock as Fergie stepping into the weight-loss tea recreation.
Let’s do some maths, we could?
At the time of writing, it has been 912 days because it was introduced on December 15, 2020 that the Sussexes had signed on with the audio platform, with their deal reportedly coming in at $US25 million ($36.7 million).
That works out, carry the one, divide by pi, at this being value $40,326 per day, to this point.
How a lot bang has the multibillion-dollar firm gotten, so far, for his or her many, many bucks? Think much less New Year’s Eve fireworks-worthy explosiveness and extra hastily-lit sparkler. A little bit of dazzle and champagne that’s over very quickly.
Back in December 2020, two weeks after Harry and Meghan introduced their Spotify marriage, the couple put out a roughly half-hour episode that includes just a few starry pals providing their profound ideas on the primary 12 months of the pandemic.
It was predictable and anaemic and appeared precisely what I figured Harry and Meghan would begin pumping out: podcasts the place they nattered to their A-list mates, in between serving up some self help-lite pap.
Except that then got here … nothing … and extra nothing … and a bit extra nothing.
It took a full 20 months for the Sussexes’ first Spotify undertaking to be launched within the type of Meghan’s podcast Archetypes, which was to feminist discourse what Die Hard is to policing. (To be truthful, it was not a foul concept, however the execution noticed overly-long episodes, an idea stretched far too skinny and a bunch who was not precisely a pure interviewer).
Listeners have been fascinated with Archetypes till they weren’t, with the podcast debuting at primary earlier than, within the weeks that adopted, new episodes didn’t make a lot of a mark within the listening charts.
In the 9 months since then, whereas there have been rumours {that a} second season can be given the inexperienced gentle, nothing has been introduced.
But at the very least Meghan had an concept after which adopted it up with some speaking right into a microphone. Since that Harry and Meghan two-hander in late 2020, the duke has not created, launched or recorded a single, solitary factor for the corporate. (He did pop up in Meghan’s debut episode to go with Serena Williams on her hair, saying “that’s a great vibe”).
Or to place it one other method, the final time that he correctly graced the Spotify airwaves, the duke’s grandparents, Her late Majesty and Prince Philip, have been each alive and internet hosting Christmas at their Sandringham Estate.
Such an incredible return on funding for Spotify thus far …
As of now, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wouldn’t have any confirmed or new collection within the works for the corporate, regardless of their deal being value in regards to the worth of a Kia Carnival per day.
Nor are issues that significantly better on the Netflix facet of the equation for Harry and Meghan, the place their Archewell Productions has just one undertaking on the go, the duke’s doco in regards to the Invictus Games. No air date has but been set.
It took Tolstoy six years to jot down War and Peace – is Harry working to a equally indulgent time-frame?
While earlier this 12 months it was reported that they have been trying to transfer into scripted content material akin to rom-coms, nothing has been introduced.
Meanwhile, within the two and a half years-plus for the reason that Sussexes signed on with Netflix and Spotify, the streaming panorama has been hit by an financial earthquake.
These two firms alone have misplaced greater than $50 billion mixed in market worth and there have been mass lay-offs throughout the sector.
In January, the Spotify govt who signed the royal renegade couple left the business.
“The dumb money era is over,” a podcast business strategist instructed the New York Times earlier this 12 months.
Being a world title wouldn’t appear to be sufficient to maintain Spotify on facet, with the corporate “declining to renew” their take care of Barack and Michelle Obama’s manufacturing firm final 12 months.
Given the best way the financial wind is blowing, you would need to suppose that at some stage, some well mannered stress must be utilized within the path of Archewell HQ to get the duke and duchess to truly, you already know, make one thing.
It can be fascinating to know if the identical scenario may additionally maintain in the case of Harry and his writer Penguin Random House.
While they’re in all probability nonetheless gleefully counting the Guinness World Record-breaking gross sales of his memoir Spare, may they be trying to get their arms on one other e-book from Aitch?
Writing within the Daily Mail, biographer Christopher Wilson reported that “Harry’s deal with Penguin, worth upwards of £22 million ($40.9 million), requires him to produce at least one more book, and soon”.
Just to actually dial up the pressure, Harry can also be the Chief Impact Officer of a training platform referred to as BetterUp, a job that appears to require him to look in adverts and undertake talking gigs. Look, it’s hardly working down a salt mine, however taken all collectively, the calls for on the previous military captain actually begin to mount up.
All of that is earlier than we’ve factored within the time for him to do a lick of humanitarian work by way of the Sussexes’ Archewell Foundation. Pity his poor PA attempting to schedule all of this, in addition to every day shiatsu and crystal remedy classes.
Whatever is a duke, with two babies and a clutch of British courtroom instances on the go, to do?
This 12 months, he doesn’t even have the outlet of polo, together with his Los Padres workforce not taking part in in his native Santa Barbara membership cup.
Here’s my concept – Spotify ought to put Harry to work recording audio books.
He did the 15-hour model for Spare, so why not have him do King Charles’ 2010 mind-numbing Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, then Fergie’s Mills & Boon quantity, Her Heart For A Compass, earlier than shifting onto her Budgie again catalogue?
Get him some lemon barley and get the person studying.
Streaming service + duke + raunchy romance novel? You may take that to the financial institution any day.
Daniela Elser is author, editor and royal commentator with greater than 15 years’ expertise working with a lot of Australia’s main media titles.
Source: www.news.com.au
