What’s next for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry as Spotify deal ends and they won’t be at Trooping the Colour?

It is certainly not a good end of the week for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as Spotify have ended their podcast deal with the couple. The news was revealed in a joint statement which read: “Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”

According to the BBC, “Spotify confirmed it was not renewing Meghan’s podcast Archetypes, which ran for 12 episodes from August 2022, for a second series. The contract was estimated to be worth $25m (£18m) in late 2020. The podcast deal was one of the major commercial agreements the couple entered into after quitting royal duties and relocating to the US in 2020.”

For her podcast Archetypes, Meghan Markle spoke to high-profile guests such as Mariah Carey and her good friend Serena Williams. In March Meghan Markle was named top Entertainment Podcast Host for her work at the Gracie Awards and in December last year Meghan won the People’s Choice Award for pop podcast of 2022.

Meghan Markle responded to winning the People’s Choice Award in a statement on her Archewell site and said: “I loved digging my hands into the process, sitting up late at night in bed, working on the writing and creative. And I loved digging deep into meaningful conversation with my diverse and inspiring guests, laughing and learning with them and with each of you listening.”

As well as losing out on the Spotify deal, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will also not be present at Trooping the Colour 2023 tomorrow and reportedly were not invited. On the day, King Charles will be joined on horseback by his youngest brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, and it is believed that the Prince and Princess of Wales’ three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will join the procession by carriage. 

Although Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped back as working members of the royal family in 2020, they still attended Trooping the Colour 2022 and watched with other members of the royal family from a room above Horse Guards Parade. 

As the event was scaled back in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, before 2022, Prince Harry and Meghan attended Trooping the Colour in 2018, only a month after they had married at Windsor Castle. They were also there for the event in 2019, only weeks after Meghan had given birth to their first child, Prince Archie.

It is thought that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will spend the day quietly tomorrow with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet tomorrow while the rest of the family celebrate King Charles’ Trooping the Colour. 

So, if the couple’s Spotify deal has ended and they will not be present at Trooping the Colour, what is next for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan? Although there were rumours circulating  that Netflix had cancelled Prince Harry’s ‘Heart of Invictus’ documentary, this is believed not to be the case now. Newsweek reported that “when contacted by Newseek on June 14, representatives for Netflix said that the information in the January announcement was still ‘correct’ and ‘accurate.’ Therefore viewers can expect the show to hit screens in the coming months, although Netflix has not yet announced an exact date.”

In April, it was revealed that Meghan Markle had signed with talent agency WME, which also represents the likes of Rihanna and The Rock, so they are no doubt planning some projects for her as I write. In the last day, it has also been revealed that her good friend Tyler Perry (and godfather to Princess Lilibet), has reportedly bought two major television networks, BET and VH1. However, this has not been verified as yet.

Fox 5 Atlanta wrote: “Congratulations are pouring in for Tyler Perry after news reports that the media mogul successfully acquired BET and VH1, making him the first African American to own two major television networks… expect, no one knows if it actually happened. The article goes on to say that “Many celebrities, social media influencers and blogs have taken a since-deleted article making the bold claim on Monday and have run with it throughout the week. It’s important to note that Viacom, BET Networks, Paramount Global and Perry, himself, have not made any announcements confirming the news.”