Why Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Are Reportedly Pumping The Brakes On Their Netflix Show

Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle can no longer count "being royal" as a job title after officially stepping down from their "working royal" positions in 2020, they've turned their sights to new career paths in media. They're writing books, starting podcasts, and they're reportedly making a docuseries about their lives for Netflix. They have to pay the bills somehow, you know?

So, why are we now hearing that the royal (by heritage, not by profession) couple may be pumping the breaks on their alleged Netflix show? Adding to the drama is the fact that this would be the second project of the Sussexes' to get delayed recently, as Prince Harry's bombshell memoir may not come out as soon as we thought. According to Yahoo! News, the book was set to be released in November 2022 but likely won't hit the shelves until 2023 out of respect for Queen Elizabeth II so soon after her death. Harry has promised his memoir will be a "wholly truthful" and "firsthand account" of his life, which apparently had some palace insiders spooked (per Yahoo! News). 

With reports indicating that the pair's Netflix series may be heading the same way as Prince Harry's new memoir, many are left wondering what prompted the sudden change in plans.

As you may have guessed, if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle do decide to postpone the release of their alleged Netflix docuseries, it would be for similar reasons as to why the Duke of Sussex paused the release of his forthcoming memoir. According to Page Six, Netflix executives wanted the series to be released sometime in December to coincide with the fifth season of "The Crown," which premieres in November. However, sources are indicating that since the queen's death, Harry and Meghan want to re-edit some of the show or stall its release. Page Six quotes one "Hollywood industry source" who said, "A lot of conversations are happening. I hear that Harry and Meghan want the series to be held until next year, they want to stall."

That said, there are really only a few rumors to go on in terms of determining what's going on with the Netflix project. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has already set a date for the return of her Spotify podcast "Archetypes" — October 4, according to People — so she at least seems ready to keep calm and carry on. Plus, no one from Netflix or from Archewell (Meghan and Harry's production company) has even officially announced the docuseries, so it might not even exist!